Prime Thrift, a popular thrift store chain in Texas and the mid-Atlantic region, is laying off employees at its four Maryland retail locations as it comes under new ownership, according to recent notices filed with the state.

The move follows a trend of for-profit thrift stores merging or acquiring other chains. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notices are filed under Value Village Thrift Stores; the addresses listed are all Prime Thrift locations.

Workers at some Prime Thrift stores told The Banner the company is closing the 3424 Eastern Ave. location, as well as a nearby telemarketing office. Those cuts affect 39 workers, according to WARN notices.

That Highlandtown location has long been a thrift store. Its exterior still calls it Value Village.

Employees in Maryland were told that Brightmore Brands, based in Arizona, is acquiring Prime Thrift’s stores.

The workers declined to give their names, for fear of retribution, and referred The Banner to the company’s corporate office. Representatives of Prime Thrift and Brightmore declined to comment.

The WARN notices, issued Dec. 19 and effective Feb. 21, indicate that another 42 jobs in Harford County, 41 in Prince George’s County and 25 in Charles County will be affected. Those stores are being acquired but will remain open, according to employees.

Prime Thrift opened its first store in San Antonio in 1951 and expanded to other cities and states, including Dallas, Houston and Tulsa, Oklahoma. The company opened its first mid-Atlantic store in Washington, D.C., in 1971 and expanded to Maryland, Delaware and Northern Virginia.

WARN notices had not been filed in Virginia or Delaware as of Tuesday morning.

Brightmore Brands is an investor-backed thrift store operator founded in 2022 after the MyUnique thrift store chain in New York and New Jersey combined with the California-based EcoThrift.

The company has 37 stores in New York, New Jersey, California and Minnesota, and added more than a dozen locations in Texas after it acquired Texas Thrift, another thrift chain.

“Brightmore Brands does not comment on potential transactions or ongoing business matters,” Stephanie Browder, Brightmore’s director of marketing, said in an email.