Amid Reorganization, MakerBot Shutters Greenwich Store

The Greenwich Avenue outpost of MakerBot, the tour de force of 3-D printing, has closed. The closure is part of a major reorganization announced by the firm’s parent company on Friday.

The company announced in a blog on Friday, “Today, we at MakerBot are re-organizing our business in order to focus on what matters most to our customers. As part of this, we have implemented expense reductions, downsized our staff and closed our three MakerBot retail locations.”

A sign posted on the door of the 200 Greenwich Ave. store Monday read, “Please be advised that MakerBot retail is closed.” Ironically, the sign was hand-printed. The Greenwich store is one of three stores that were shuttered.

MakerBot opened its Greenwich store just before the 2013 holiday season at the top of the avenue in a small space at 72 Greenwich Ave. Last year it moved to the now shuttered location that’s next door to St. Mary Church.

MakerBot laid off about 20 percent of its workforce that was estimated to be more than 500, according to DigitalTrends.com.

“With these changes, we will focus our efforts on improving and iterating our products, growing our 3D ecosystem, shifting our retail focus to our national partners and expanding our efforts in the professional and education markets”

David Reis, chief executive officer of Stratasys, said in the announcement “These organizational moves are part of the continued scaling of MakerBot.” MakerBot, which is based in Brooklyn, NY is a subsidiary of Stratasys, Ltd.

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