US Foods Closing Florida-Based Distribution Center
LAKELAND, FL - US Foods is closing a 150,000 square foot distribution center in Lakeland, Florida, due to a “significant loss of business.”
In a memo obtained by the Lakeland Ledger, US Foods Chief Operating Officer Stuart Schuette and Keith Knight, President of the Southern Region, stated, “Lakeland has experienced a significant loss of business and can no longer sustain its current level of operational costs.”
Operations at the warehouse, which is located at 330 N. Ingraham Ave., will be moved to facilities in Tampa and Port Orange, according to the Ledger.
About 150 employees will be affected by the move, but Schuette and Knight state in the memo that “many Lakeland division employees will be provided with the opportunity to follow the Lakeland business.”
“While we cannot guarantee that everyone will be offered a position at another US Foods division, it is our goal to try hard to help everyone find a job,” Schuette and Knight said in the memo.
US Foods and Sysco are currently engaged in antitrust hearings for the proposed merger between the two foodservice companies. As we previously reported, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta has added an extra day to the hearing that was supposed to have ended as of Wednesday, May 13, with closing arguments not to be heard until the end of the month.
US Foods Executive Vice President David Schreibman claimed that the company would not proceed if the legal delays continued, reportedly stating in federal court that it would “terminate if this court enjoins the transaction.” No further comments, however, have yet been made in regards to the delay.
