American Girl, Sheridan Wisconsin announce layoffs

MADISON, Wis. (WMDX) – Two long-time Dane County businesses have announced they are closing their doors and laying off employees. Printing plant Sheridan Wisconsin will lay off 116 workers by the end of June. American Girl will close their corporate office in Middleton and lay off around 30 workers by the fall. 

Sheridan Wisconsin, formerly known as Webcrafters, was first founded in 1868, and operates a printing plant on Madison’s north side. In 2017, the company was acquired by the Minnesota-based CJK Group Inc, changing its name to Sheridan Wisconsin. 

In a filing with the state Department of Workforce Development, Sheridan Wisconsin says they are permanently closing their facility on Fordem Avenue, citing a significant downtown in business. Most of those being laid off are hourly employees, and layoffs will begin on April 13th. Layoffs will continue in phases until the plant permanently closes on June 28th. 

They say that all employees will be paid all earned wages and benefits at the time of their termination.

American Girl announced Thursday that they would be permanently closing their Middleton corporate offices, and laying off around 30 employees, starting Friday, February 16 through early September. 

American Girl was founded in Middleton in 1986, and was acquired by toy-giant Mattel in 1998. Earlier this month, an investment group with shares in Mattel sent a letter to Ynon Kreiz, the Chairman and CEO of Mattel, urging them to sell the American Girl and Fisher-Price brands. In the letter, the investors said the brands were underperforming, and needed to be sold to help prop up stock prices.