PAWTUCKET – State and local officials said Friday they've received no official word from Hasbro Inc. leadership a day after it was reported the toy company pushed back its timeline on deciding whether to move its headquarters out of Rhode Island.
Abby Rhodes, Hasbro’s vice president of corporate external communications, on Friday told Providence Business News the company had updated its employees Thursday that it was "making progress on determining our [headquarters]" and that "clarity" would be coming this summer.
The company’s board of directors met in early February, but the company has declined to offer any details, saying at the time that a decision could be announced by the end of March.
Gov. Daniel J. McKee last met with Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks in January.
McKee spokesperson Olivia DaRocha said the state’s pitch to Hasbro remains “one we believe will be difficult to walk away from.”
“As the company continues its deliberations, we will remain engaged with them while we continue the work of supporting and attracting businesses to grow Rhode Island’s innovation economy,” she said.
In November, the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission offered a key 1-acre plot on the west side of the Providence River to Hasbro Inc. for $1 to persuade the Pawtucket-based toymaker from relocating to Massachusetts.
First reported by the Boston Business Journal in October citing unnamed real estate sources, the toymaker is considering commercial space in Boston’s Seaport District.
Pawtucket also made a bid to Hasbro to take over a 20-acre parcel that includes the former Apex building, which Mayor Donald Grebien called a “bold and comprehensive” proposal to relocate to a site with direct pedestrian access to the new Tidewater Stadium entertainment district.
The company, which manufactures most of its products in Asia, has said publicly that President Donald J. Trump's 10% tariffs on China could become a risk to its portfolio.
House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi said he has not received any updates from Hasbro, but was not surprised the decision was being postponed given "the volatility of the economy."
"Corporate America is just as concerned as Mainstream America about the uncertain economic climate," said Shekarchi.
Grebian spokesperson Grace Voll said the city was still waiting on word from the company.
“We look forward to hearing from them,” she said.
According to the company's annual proxy report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on April 4, Cocks saw his total compensation rise 11.5% in fiscal year 2024.
Cocks received a $1.5 million base salary in fiscal year 2024, with stock awards of $10.5 million, $4.4 million in incentive pay and other compensation of $411,000 for a total of $16.8 million.
Cocks’ total compensation in fiscal year 2023 was $15 million, which included a base salary of $1.5 million and $7.8 million in stock awards.
Hasbro finished fiscal year 2024 with a $385.6 million profit after drastically cutting costs and expenses to bounce back from a loss of $1.49 billion a year earlier.
The improved bottom line was largely attributed to an 83% reduction in costs and expenses, which dropped from $6.5 billion in 2023 to $3.4 billion in 2024. A big portion of that cost reduction came because in 2023, Hasbro recorded a $1.2 billion “impairment of goodwill,” meaning the value of past acquisitions had dropped and was reduced on its financial statements.
In 2024, Hasbro did not record an impairment.
Also in late 2023, Hasbro announced it would lay off an additional 1,100 employees globally, on top of 1,000 layoffs that had already been planned, as part of a company restructuring. The company also vacated its downtown Providence office building.
(UPDATE adds comment from McKee spokesperson Olivia DaRocha in paragraphs 5 and 6.)
Christopher Allen is a PBN staff writer. You may contact him at Allen@PBN.com.
