High-end design brand Shinola/Detroit LLC laid off about 30 employees Thursday in Detroit — less than 5 percent of its total workforce.

The Detroit-based watch and luxury goods maker made the "decision to restructure" as part of a business growth strategy, it confirmed to Crain's on Friday in an emailed statement.

Shinola employed 610 people before the Thursday layoffs. As of March 2018, the company employed more than 650 people, including seasonal and temporary workers, according to a fact sheet emailed to Crain's at the time, meaning Thursday's round of cuts likely wasn't the first.

Daily Detroit first reported the recent layoffs.

"As Shinola remains committed to delivering the highest quality products to its customers, the company is taking the necessary steps to refocus its business strategy for future operations," the statement to Crain's said. "In order to advance this new phase of growth, the company is reducing its workforce by less than 5%. Shinola is a small family. Our employees are this company's foundation and the decision to restructure was not made without careful consideration. While difficult, this step is critical to enable and scale profitable growth. We are grateful to have been able to identify specific local employment opportunities outside of Shinola for each employee affected and will continue to support them in any way we can."

Shinola declined to provide an interview or provide additional information.

Shinola's former president, Jacques Panis, left the company in early 2018, saying it was the right time for him in his career to "move on." The global brand's founder, Tom Kartsotis, said in a news release at the time that Panis might be better suited to moving to something "entrepreneurial." Panis this year signed on to lead a Troy-based lab-grown diamond startup, New World Diamonds LLC.

Shinola has grown from a boutique watchmaker in Detroit to a large-scale producer of upscale bicycles, bags, turntables, jewelry and office accessories. It is a subsidiary of Plano, Texas-based Bedrock Manufacturing Co. LLC.

The company has touted its roots in Detroit and its hiring and manufacturing work in the city. It has two flagship stores in Detroit — in Midtown on Canfield and downtown on Woodward Avenue by the Shinola Hotel it created with Dan Gilbert's Bedrock LLC. Other Southeast Michigan locations include in Somerset Collection in Troy, an outlet store in Great Lakes Crossing Outlets in Auburn Hills and a store in Ann Arbor.

Shinola came under fire in recent years for its American-made claims and perceptions outside the city that it has overwhelmingly contributed to Detroit's resurgence — as opposed to being one among many companies that employ people, invest and do work in Detroit, as Aaron Foley of city of Detroit government storytelling site The Neighborhoods put it. He, along with U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib and others, criticized "Green Book" director Peter Farrelly for saying during the Oscars that Shinola watches are "saving Detroit," as the Detroit Free Press and others reported.

Shinola drew U.S. Federal Trade Commission attention for overstating the extent to which its products are made in the U.S. Bedrock Manufacturing settled with the FTC over the claims in 2016.

It advertises its watches as "built in Detroit," from Swiss and other imported parts.