C&S Wholesale Grocers
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C&S Wholesale Grocers is a wholesale distributor of food and grocery store items. With headquarters in Keene, New Hampshire, C&S is the twelfth-largest privately held company in the United States, as listed in 2008 by Forbes.[1] As of November 2009[update], they are the eighth-largest such company.[2]
C&S provides 53,000 food and nonfood items to 5,000 retail locations, including produce, meat, dairy products, delicatessen products, fresh/frozen bakery items, health and beauty aids, candy and tobacco.
C&S customers include: Pathmark, Safeway Inc., Food Giant Stores, Shaw's Supermarkets, Stop & Shop, A&P Supermarkets, BJ's Wholesale Club, Target Corporation, Tops Markets LLC, P&C Foods, Quality Markets, Great American, SavMart/Foodmax, DeMoulas and independent store/supermarket owner/operators. Plans to close a facility in western New York are still unconfirmed.
Additional facts taken from the company's public profile include:
- Sales for 2007 were approximately $19.45 billion
- Staff of over 20,000 associates
- Since its founding as a single warehouse in Massachusetts, C&S has broadened to over 70 facilities in 12 states
- Storage space of over 18,000,000 square feet (1,700,000 m2)
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[edit] Lawsuits
In April 2006, three former, and one current C&S employee filed a nationwide class action in U.S. District Court[3][4]. The lawsuit details how C&S, the second-largest wholesale grocery store supplier in the U.S., violates federal and state laws by illegally chopping workers' wages as punishment for mistakes on the job; failing to pay overtime; failing to pay for time worked in excess of 10 hours; failing to pay employees their agreed hourly rates; and encouraging employees to work off-the-clock and through lunch without pay. Sanford, Wittels & Heisler, LLP represented the plaintiffs.
In its defense, C&S denied any wrongdoing and says that the suit is without merit. The company also said that the team structure does not violate any law or regulation. "C&S is very proud of its self-managed teams, which are the cornerstone of creating an empowered and engaged work force," the firm said. The statement said industry analysts and academic researchers have praised the team concept. [5]
In 2009 lawsuits were filed in federal courts in Wisconsin and New Hampshire alleging that C&S and SuperValu engaged in collusion to allocate markets and reduce competition.[6][7][8]
[edit] WARN Notices In California
Last April WARN notices were sent to employees in at least four C&S facilities. The four warehouses are in West Sacramento, Sacramento, Stockton and Fresno California. [9]
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ http://www.forbes.com/business/lists/2008/21/privates08_CS-Wholesale-Grocers_HFCA.html
- ^ Fleischauer, Eric (November 3, 2009). "2 Decatur Piggly Wigglys to become Food World stores". Decatur Daily. http://www.decaturdaily.com/detail/46819.html.
- ^ Class action status sought for C&S suit, masslive.com
- ^ Employees of C&S Wholesale Grocers File $750m Class Action Suit, ecnext.com
- ^ Class-action suit targets C&S grocer, masslive.com
- ^ http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2009/01/19/daily38.html
- ^ http://www.mdm.com/Grocery-Wholesalers-Face-Anticompetitive-Lawsuit/PARAMS/article/6570
- ^ http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/203953155.html
- ^ http://www.sacbee.com/business/story/1818138.html
