Firm that delivers Amazon packages to close, lay off 75 workers

A transportation company that delivers Amazon packages on the East End plans to close in July, eliminating 75 jobs, according to a regulatory filing.

GOGO Magnolia Venture LLC, which operates from the Amazon warehouse at 245 Roger’s Way in Westhampton Beach, said its “employees are expected to be separated from their employment beginning July 11, 2023, or within a 14-day period thereafter.”

No reason was given for the “plant closing” in the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification that was filed last month with the state Department of Labor.

Company executives didn’t respond to voicemails and emails seeking comment on Wednesday and Thursday. An Amazon spokeswoman also did not respond.

GOGO and its workers are among 300 subcontractors and vendors that are based at the 91,000-square-foot facility to deliver Amazon parcels the "last mile" to customers’ doorsteps. In addition, the online retailer employed 117 people on site as package handlers, supervisors and in other warehouse positions as of Dec. 31, 2022, according to state records.

GOGO is headquartered in Glastonbury, Connecticut, according to incorporation papers filed in August with the state Department of State. A year earlier, incorporation documents filed in Connecticut listed the company’s founder as Mudasir Kahn.

It was unclear how the closure of GOGO’s Westhampton Beach operation will affect its operation at the Amazon "last-mile" warehouse in Windsor, Connecticut. No WARN notice was posted on the Connecticut Department of Labor's website.

GOGO is among several thousand small businesses that are independent of Amazon but based in its warehouses. These "delivery service partners" receive training from the retailer and benefit from special deals that it negotiates for the purchase of delivery vans, uniforms, insurance and other supplies.

Amazon started its delivery service partners program in 2018, telling entrepreneurs that with an investment of $10,000 they could reap annual profits of between $75,000 and $300,000.

GOGO’s closure in Westhampton Beach follows the shutdown of other delivery partners nationwide as Amazon adjusts to lower demand compared with the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last year, three delivery partners in Iowa, Ohio and Texas laid off a total of 205 employees after Amazon ended their contracts, according to WARN notices in those states. Separately, a federal district court judge in Washington state dismissed a lawsuit brought by delivery partners over canceled contracts, saying the dispute must be resolved through arbitration.

The shutdown of GOGO in Westhampton Beach will not impact the tax breaks awarded to the Amazon warehouse's landlord in November 2020 by the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency because the number of employees will still exceed the required 50 jobs, state records show. The building is part of the Hampton Business District, an industrial park adjacent to Gabreski Airport.

The developer and landlord, Rechler Equity Partners in Plainview, declined to comment through a spokesman on Wednesday.

By James T. Madore

james.madore@newsday.comJamesTMadore

James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.