Dive Brief:
- C&S Wholesale Grocers plans to permanently close a distribution center it operates in Baldwin, Florida, later this year, according to a Wednesday letter the company sent to the town’s mayor and the state’s Department of Commerce.
- About 490 employees will lose their jobs as a result of the closure, although C&S said it might offer some of the impacted workers the opportunity to move to other locations. C&S noted that none of the workers belong to a union.
- C&S’s disclosure that it plans to close the facility follows its move earlier this year to lay off at least 76 employees at multiple sites in Hawaii, Vermont, New Jersey, Texas and New York.
Dive Insight:
The Florida layoffs, set to take place during a two-week period beginning July 4, involve a broad range of roles and include 132 drivers, 99 selectors and 40 forklift operators, according to the letter.
A C&S spokesperson declined to comment on why the company decided to close the distribution center, located about 20 miles west of Jacksonville, Florida.
“It is a long-standing practice of C&S Wholesale Grocers not to comment on questions concerning our structure,” the spokesperson wrote in an email. “C&S remains steadfast in our transformation strategy to drive long-term growth.”
C&S will continue to “pursue opportunities to increase our customer base, expand our retail and wholesale footprint,” the spokesperson added, without elaborating.
C&S, which operates grocery stores under banners including Grand Union and Piggly Wiggly in addition to its grocery distribution business, has recently taken steps aimed at expanding its retail operations.
The grocer is part of a group of investors that announced in February that they had acquired Southeastern Grocers from Aldi. The transaction involved about 170 Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket locations as well as Winn-Dixie’s liquor store business.
C&S had been in line to acquire nearly 600 supermarkets that Kroger and Albertsons planned to divest to obtain regulatory clearance for their ultimately unsuccessful plan to merge.
