Bell Industries Plans Firings, Closures

Bell Industries Inc. said it plans to fire about 50 employees over the next 18 months and close about 15 warehouses in a restructuring after its January acquisition of Milgray Electronics Inc. The electronics products distributor is closing warehouses in locations where both Bell and Farmingdale, N.Y.-based Milgray have sites, resulting in “some displacement of personnel that wasn’t planned initially,” said Gordon Graham, Bell’s president and chief operating officer. Some of these employees will be retained if the company grows more than currently expected, he said. Los Angeles-based Bell took a first-quarter charge of $2.2 million, or 28 cents a share, to pay for severance packages and costs from breaking its leases to close some warehouses. Bell shares fell 62.5 cents to close at $16.125 on NYSE.