Cheerwine bottling company closing Colfax center, affecting 100 jobs
Guilford County is expected to lose about 100 jobs when Cheerwine moves its distribution operations to a recently purchased building in Spencer.
Rod Crider, president and chief executive of Rowan County Economic Development Council, said Friday that Piedmont Cheerwine Bottling Co. is closing its facilities at 2913 Sandy Ridge Road in Colfax and in Salisbury.
Officials with Cheerwine's parent company, Carolina Beverage Corp., could not be immediately reached for comment on the consolidation plans.
The Salisbury Post and The Charlotte Observer reported the Colfax distribution center would be closing by the end of the year, and that employees would be offered the opportunity to transfer to the Spencer facility.
In April, the bottling subsidiary of Cheerwine paid $7 million for the 176,000-square-foot building at 1302 N. Salisbury Ave. The 18.6-acre facility is projected to have about 200 employees.
Trinity Partners, which handled the purchase for Piedmont Cheerwine, said in a May 5 news release that the company plans distribution operations in the facility "with plans to explore potential bottling capabilities at the site in the future."
"We are pleased to continue to expand our operations in Rowan County," Cliff Ritchie, chief executive of Piedmont Cheerwine, said in the Trinity Partners news release.
"This new location is centrally positioned within our distribution area, providing the capacity needed to support our continued growth. Our current Salisbury location will continue to serve as our corporate headquarters."
Piedmont Cheerwine acquired the facility, which recently had Packaging Corp. of America as the occupant.
Packaging Corp. announced in October plans to close the facility, which had more than 100 employees.
Trinity said Packaging Corp. is winding down its operations at the location and is scheduled to vacate in the fall.
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This story was originally published June 6, 2026 at 4:12 AM.