SpartanNash to close here, shedding 60 jobs Food wholesaler was T.J. Morris, then Nash Finch

	1 of 1 View Larger By AL HACKLEahackle@statesboroherald.com912-489-9454 SpartanNash will close its "Nash Finch" Statesboro wholesale grocery distribution center at the end of May, eliminating 60 jobs here, the corporation's vice president for communications confirmed Tuesday. Human resources team members are having one-on-one conversations with employees about jobs available at the company's nearest remaining distribution center, in Columbus, and about other opportunities in the company, said SpartanNash Vice President for Corporate Affairs and Communications Meredith Gremel. "It's a very difficult decision to have to close a facility, but as a company with facilities around the country, at times you have to consolidate and make that difficult decision so that you can ensure that we're making the right choice for the total company," Gremel said. SpartanNash is a Fortune 400 company, and the fifth largest food distributor in the United States. After the one here closes, around May 28, SpartanNash will still operate 17 distribution centers to serve stores in 47 states. Through its retail division, the company owns and operates about 160 stores under its own retail banners. Besides its stores, SpartanNash services about 2,100 stores operated by other companies. Seven of the distribution centers supply military commissaries and exchanges. But none of the SpartanNash-owned stores are in eastern Georgia, and the Statesboro center did not serve military bases. The Statesboro distribution center served only one large customer, a national store brand, Gremel said. She did not identify it because she had not asked the customer company's permission. "This is an ongoing analysis that we look at," Gremel said. "Statesboro distribution center had one large customer that we serviced, which that customer will easily be serviced through the Columbus, Georgia, facility, and there are advantages to that customer to be serviced out of Columbus." So SpartanNash is working out those details with that one large customer. Help for jobless "For the associates, because they're the ones most impacted, in addition to offering them the opportunity to apply at other locations and potentially transfer to the Columbus location, all associates are being given support in terms of job placement," Gremel said. "There are severance packages in place for them." The company also has contacted the local Georgia Department of Labor office for assistance to the people who are losing their jobs. Among the employees affected are 21 order selectors and three lift operators, and SpartanNash has openings for these at the Columbus facility, Gremel said, adding that the company realizes such a move can be difficult. Another 20 of the employees are truck drivers, and Gremel observed that qualified drivers are in high demand around the country. Other employees losing their jobs include mechanics, clerks, supervisors, an operations manager and an inventory control person. "We have wonderful associates that worked in Statesboro," Gremel said. "It is not a reflection by any means on our associates that dedicated themselves to that facility. It's really a matter of a strategic business decision" The company, she said, has to be able to invest in and grow its highest-performing facilities. Past lives The signs at the grocery distribution center on U.S. Highway 301 South still say Nash Finch Company. But Spartan Stores, based near Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Nash Finch, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, merged in November 2013 to form SpartanNash. Nash Finch had a presence here for almost 20 years, since buying T.J. Morris, a Statesboro-based independent food wholesaler, in the summer of 1996. First Nash Finch, and later SpartanNash, owned the business, but leased the property. The land and buildings still belong to members of the Morris family, heirs of T.J. Morris, who founded his namesake company here in the 1950s. The Morrises are looking to sell or lease the property, and would prefer to sell it, said real estate appraiser Gary Brannen, who married a Morris and serves as local contact person for the family. The 20-year lease was set to expire this year, he said. The dry-grocery warehousing, refrigeration and office buildings, together, measure about 240,000 square feet and sit on more than 30 available acres. Colliers International, an Atlanta-based commercial real estate firm, is listing the property. The Development Authority of Bulloch County is also helping promote it in hope of replacing the lost jobs. "We've been working with Colliers and with the owner to try to create some interest in that building and we're getting some good feedback, said Development Authority CEO Benjy Thompson.