Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Tuesday that she’s hoping to meet with representatives of financial services conglomerate Citigroup to try to stop the closure of a credit card collections center in eastern New Orleans.
More than 800 jobs would be lost if the Sears credit card center is closed. Citigroup last week told employees that it would shutter the center by October. Citigroup’s move came after the financial giant finalized its acquisition of Sears, Roebuck and Company’s customer credit card portfolio for $3 billion in November. Monday, Mayor Ray Nagin had also pledged his efforts in fighting to save the credit card center — and its jobs — for New Orleans.
Blanco said she’s asking her economic development staff to immediately begin marketing the call center to other companies in case she can’t persuade Citigroup to keep the office open. The office employs 847 workers who handle customer-service and collection calls.
Besides closing the New Orleans center, Citigroup has announced it will close call centers near Philadelphia and in Atlanta, Cleveland, Salem, Mass., and Tempe, Ariz.
