St. Petersburg’s Triad lays off more employees

ST. PETERSBURG — Marketing firm Triad, formerly known as Triad Retail Media, laid off more of employees this week, some of which were in its St. Petersburg headquarters.

In a statement, the company said the cuts — the number of which were not specified — were a result of an assessment the company conducted in the face of a changing landscape for media and retail.

“After a thorough evaluation of our organizational needs, this assessment did result in the need to eliminate positions under a new streamlined structure,” the company said in a statement.

Triad said it was helping employees find new employment.

“We understand the impact these types of decisions have on individuals and will be doing our best to help affected team members pursue new opportunities through ongoing community outreach,” the company said.

This is Triad’s second round of layoffs in six months. It laid off an undisclosed number of employees in September 2019, affecting its St. Petersburg location and offices in other markets.

At the time, the company said it made cuts because of plans to pivot more to e-commerce aspects of its business. It held a job fair to help place affected workers in positions with local companies.

The firm rebranded as “Triad” in February 2019 to better reflect its variety of services, a release at the time said. These include media buying, analytics, consulting and creative content.

Triad was sold in 2016 to British public relations firm WPP for $300 million. It named Sherry Smith, a former member of its executive team, as its CEO in 2017.

In 2017, the company had about 500 employees across its branches nationally, 400 of which were in its Tampa Bay headquarters.

It counted among its clients retailers including Walmart, CVS, Sam’s Club, Kohl’s, Staples and eBay.

Its website currently lists locations in St. Petersburg, Chicago, New York City and Rogers, Arkansas.