C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc., which supplies an estimated 137,000 food and related items to approximately 7,700 independent supermarkets and local grocery stores throughout the U.S., has amended a filing it made with the New York State Department of Labor regarding the closing of its warehouse in Newburgh. It now says that the closing date for the facility will be in February and that it will be keeping some employees on the payroll longer than first reported.
The Business Journal”™s Phil Hall reported in July that the company had told the state that it expected to begin shutting down its Newburgh operations on Oct. 2. However, the company”™s amendment indicates that separation dates for 74 of the affected employees have been extended into early 2022.
In all, 244 employees will have been let go by the Feb. 25 final closing date, according to C&S. The company employs 304 people at its Newburgh facility.
According to the latest notice the company filed with the Department of Labor, 60 of the employees have accepted offers to transfer to another C&S site. None of the employees are represented by a union. The company said that the decision to close the Newburgh facility at 1500 Corporate Blvd. was made because one of the company”™s largest customers decided to move to a self-distribution model.
After the Newburgh closing, it appears that C&S will maintain a presence in Orange County. It operates a warehouse in the Town of Chester.
C&S has its headquarters in Keene, New Hampshire. It describes itself as the largest wholesale grocery distributor in the United States, based on net sales, together with net sales of its affiliated companies. It reported in 2018 that it had net sales of approximately $27 billion.
C&S said it was the 10th largest privately held company in the United States, as ranked by Forbes magazine. The company reported having approximately 14,000 employees and 71 warehouse facilities in 49 locations.
C&S was founded in 1918 in Worcester, Mass., by Israel Cohen and Abraham Siegel, thus the C&S in the company”™s name. It subsequently expanded nationally and opened the warehouse in Newburgh in 1997. In 2000, C&S purchased the assets of the former Grand Union grocery chain.
C&S announced this week that it had entered into a definitive agreement to purchase 12 Tops Markets stores and intends to convert them into Grand Union supermarkets. The new Grand Union stores will be located in upstate New York and Rutland, Vermont. The company also recently purchased Piggly Wiggly Midwest supermarkets, saying it was an opportunity to further expand into the retail area.
