Willowbrook Mall Dave & Busters Will Lay Off Over 100 Employees

WAYNE, NJ — Over 100 employees of the Willowbrook Mall Dave & Busters will face lay-offs according to a state Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice.

According to the notice, the company will lay off 107 employees at the Wayne location, effective Nov. 10.

Opened in February 2018, the location in Wayne is the second in New Jersey for the Dallas-based company.

After closing during the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic, the mall reopened on June 29, but, according to Northjersey.com, the kitchen and bar of Dave & Busters remains closed.

In a Friday news release, the company reported a drastic hit to revenue in the second quarter of 2020, largely caused by, you guessed it, the coronavirus.

"The Company’s second quarter 2020 financial results were severely impacted by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic when compared against the results of the second quarter of 2019. As of March 20, 2020, all the Company’s stores were temporarily closed in compliance with state-by-state COVID-19 mitigation mandates," the news release said.

As the storefronts sat empty, revenue tanked.

Second quarter revenue in 2020 totaled $50.8 million, a decrease of 85 percent compared with $344.6 million in the second quarter of 2019.

Dave & Busters isn't alone in the struggle brought on by the coronavirus, which was felt heavily in the retail industry.

Century 21 is the latest retail chain to file for bankruptcy as the coronavirus continues to wreak havoc on the industry.

Others to file include Mahwah-based Ascena, which owns Ann Taylor, as well as department store chain Lord & Taylor, which announced it would be closing its Paramus location in late August.