As True Value readies to open a distribution center in Luzerne County, it’s closing the regional distribution facility in Lehigh County.
The 1-million-square-foot facility in Hanover Twp. is a significant portion of True Value’s $150 million investment in supply chain modernization, company officials said.
But the Lehigh Valley closure will leave as many as 165 employees without jobs, according to a notification the company sent state officials under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.
The notice — submitted July 24 to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry’s Rapid Response unit, which assists workers and employers affected by job cuts and business closures — said the worker separations are expected to begin on or about Oct. 15.
True Value spokeswoman Jennifer Born said last week that the Lehigh Valley distribution operation — actually two leased facilities, at 7058 Snowdrift Road and a satellite site at 6736 W. Tilghman St. in Upper Macungie Twp. — are more than 40 years old and have been running out of space. She said nearly one-fourth of merchandise is stored outside in trailers or off-site.
“We selected (Hanover Twp.) as the site for our new distribution center because it was the most ideal location to service our retailers in the Northeast, which consists of more than 1,000 retail locations,” Born said via email.
She also said affected workers will be offered “transition assistance” and a chance to apply for jobs at the new distribution center.
The Lehigh Valley True Value operation was unionized and the workers there are part of the United Steelworkers, which did not comment.
Don Cunningham, president and CEO of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp., said he did not speak to True Value regarding its plans, though it would have been tough to find a large enough site in the Lehigh Valley to fit its needs.
“It’s becoming pretty rare and fairly difficult to build 1 million-square-foot facilities anymore in the Lehigh Valley,” he said. “The reality is that companies are looking just outside the Lehigh Valley, to the northeast or over in Berks.”
True Value said in its February announcement that its new facility, in the Hanover 9 Industrial Park, is slated to create “hundreds of new jobs” in Luzerne County. Born said True Value’s investment in the new distribution center, which it will lease, includes construction and material-handling equipment to out-fit the building.
Born did not have an exact date that the Lehigh Valley distribution will close. Privately held True Value operates 13 distribution centers in 12 states. The company says it has 2,500 workers serving about 4,600 stores in the U.S. and overseas.