Coldwater Creek, Sandpoint, ID, will cut more than 8% of its work force, or 160 employees, as part of a cost-cutting measure. Approximately 50 employees will be released from each of the firm’s Sandpoint and Coeur d’Alene, ID, and Parkersburg, WV, facilities. After the reductions, the apparel, gifts and home products marketer will employ 1,930 people.

The company also said that new hires, non-essential travel, and internal expenditures are on hold pending a turnaround in flagging consumer confidence levels. But plans to open between 10 and 15 new Coldwater Creek retail outlets remain on track, Georgia Shonk-Simmons, the firm’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.

In a statement on Feb. 13, Coldwater Creek said that it was revising its anticipated fourth-quarter sales to between $112-$117 million, and net income to between $400,000 and $700,000. After the company’s statement its stock price fell by 50%, and is currently trading around 18. In fourth quarter 1999 Coldwater Creek had sales of $102 million and net income of just under $6 million.

Coldwater Creek, Sandpoint, ID, will cut more than eight percent of its work force, or 160 employees, as part of a cost-cutting measure. Approximately 50 employees will be released from each of the firm