OHIO — Peloton announced Tuesday that it’s no longer going to build the $400 million facility in Ohio, which was expected to bring in 2,000 jobs and $138 million in new annual payroll.
Peloton’s announcement comes as co-founder John Foley stepped down Tuesday, no longer serving as CEO. The company also announced that it is cutting 2,800 jobs globally, including a 20% cut at its corporate offices. The company said the decision was made due to high demand following lockdowns during the pandemic.
In May, the company announced the facility would have been located in Wood County and it would have been one of the largest fitness manufacturing plants in the world. The planned structure was slated to be more than 200 acres of manufacturing space, offices and space for amenities.
Not only would it have been one of the largest fitness plants globally, it would have been Peloton’s first U.S. manufacturing plant.
“We are thrilled to bring a good portion of our manufacturing to United States soil and proud that it will be in the great state of Ohio,” Foley said at the time of the May announcement. “The new Peloton Output Park gives us a massive strategic lever to make sure we have capacity, quality, and economies of scale in our bike and tread product lines, to support our continued growth for years and years to come. We are incredibly excited to meet and welcome the Troy Township community into the Peloton family fold.”
Gov. Mike DeWine also celebrated the announcement of the plant, saying, “Ohio is excited to partner with Peloton’s forward-looking leadership team in developing a new, state-of-the-art facility using connective technology, and creating 2,174 new manufacturing jobs in Wood County.”
The cut was in conjunction with the company’s mission to save money. The layoffs, along with shutting down plants, are expected to save Peloton around $800 million a year.
“These decisions, particularly those related to our impacted Peloton team members, were not taken lightly,” Foley said. “We greatly value the contributions of our talented colleagues and are committed to supporting impacted team members in their transitions. We thank our global team members for their focus and dedication through this process.”
Peloton said that it would sell the building and land it was planning to use.
“We are forever thankful to Wood County, Troy Township, JobsOhio, the Ohio Development Services Agency and the Regional Growth Partnership for welcoming Peloton to the community and for their invaluable partnership,” the company said in a statement. “While we won’t be able to ultimately occupy the property, overall we not only had the opportunity to highlight the talent and resources Troy Township offers, but we also invested approximately $100 million in the area.”
Peloton’s shares have plummeted from a peak of $162.70 in December 2020 to less than $30 today. Shares were up 21% Monday based on reports that Amazon, Apple and Nike were exploring bids to purchase the company.
