Dillard

Dillard's Inc. said it will lay off nearly 150 employees from its Ward Parkway Center store, which is being converted into a clearance center. The Little Rock, Ark.-based retailer filed a layoff notice recently with the state of Missouri. The filing states that 148 employees will be furloughed effective soon. Dillard's did not disclose the total number of employees at the Ward Parkway store. However, Dillard's last month said it was converting the Ward Parkway store into a discount clearance center, which generally requires fewer workers than a full-service store. Some of the Ward Parkway employees were expected to be offered opportunities to transfer to other stores, although Dillard's last month did not indicate how many that would be. Dillard's has full-service stores in Independence Center and Oak Park Mall, as well as a clearance center in Metro North Mall. A new Dillard's store is being built at Zona Rosain the Northland.