Report: Grocery DC Closing

Central Islip, N.Y. A grocery distribution warehouse that services Waldbaum’s and A&P stores throughout lower New York state will close March 28, according to a union official on Monday who is negotiating severance terms for workers.

The warehouse employs approximately 400 people, said Kevin McCaffrey, president of Teamsters Local 707, which represents 220 warehouse workers. Another 90 unionized workers, including truck drivers, and about 80 non-union management and support staff also will be affected, he said.

The facility is operated by C&S Wholesale Grocers, a Keene, N.H.-based company that in 2005 took over warehousing and distribution functions for the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., the Montvale, N.J., company that owns Waldbaum’s and A&P stores. A&P closed warehouses in Edison, N.J., and the Bronx, N.Y., when C&S took over distribution in 2005. At the time, A&P said it planned to focus on retail operations, primarily in the Northeast, and it divested its Midwest presence.

McCaffrey said C&S officials notified workers and the union last week of the plan to shutter the Central Islip warehouse, saying it would save the company some $7 million annually. The unions and C&S had been negotiating a new contract.