Whole Foods will permanently close Morrisville baking facility that has 102 workers
This story was updated on Friday, January 10th, 2020 at 1:52 p.m.. See below for details.
A Whole Foods baking facility that employs 102 workers will be closing permanently on March 8, according to a notice from the North Carolina Department of Commerce.
The workers are facing layoffs, though Whole Foods says it hopes to place them in other roles.
The Whole Foods Market Gluten-Free Bakehouse for the grocery store’s southern region market, on 2800 Perimeter Park Drive in Morrisville near Raleigh-Durham International Airport and Research Triangle Park, will face “permanent closure,” the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed with the commerce department said.
A statement released by Whole Foods Market said the closure was because of lack of demand for the bakery’s products.
“Whole Foods Market was the first grocer to respond to the growing customer demand for gluten-free products when we opened our North Carolina Bakehouse nearly 20 years ago,” said a Whole Foods Market spokesperson to The News & Observer. “As the number of certified gluten-free suppliers has rapidly expanded over the years, our reliance on the bakehouse has diminished. We are working closely with all impacted Team Members and hope to place them in our nearby locations or in other roles within the company.”
Companies are required to file WARN notices with the state when they have announced plans to close a facility or have a mass personnel layoff.
The Department of Commerce then responds with its “Rapid Response” team, which is tasked with helping employers and workers facing layoffs, closures and “other sensitive business actions” the commerce website says.
“Our Rapid Response team has reached out to the company,” said Andrew Beal, a communications specialist at the Department of Commerce’s N.C. Division of Workforce Solutions. “As this process has only recently begun, specific actions have not yet been taken. Our team will assess the situation further and work with company officials to plan the most appropriate response to help the affected employees.”
According to the facility’s website FAQ, the bakehouse facility was first opened in October 2004 after an employee saw a need for a separate gluten-free baking area to meet customer demands.
This story was originally published January 10, 2020 at 12:24 PM.
