Sign In
Free Newsletter
Chewy to close Mechanicsburg distribution center, impact 512 employees
Paula Wolf//March 27, 2023
Pet supply retailer Chewy will be closing its distribution center in Silver Spring Township, Cumberland County, this summer and will offer the 512 employees affected the opportunity to transfer to its fulfillment center in Lewisberry, York County.
The move was confirmed by Chewy’s filing a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification letter with the state Department of Labor & Industry, which the company labeled a “Notification of Work Relocation and Layoff.”
Productivity benefits from automation initiatives was cited as the reason for the closure.
The 602,000-square-foot distribution center at 40 Dauphin Drive opened in 2014. Workers there are not unionized.
The 732,000-square-foot fulfillment center at 100 Goodman Drive in Lewisberry (Newberry Township) opened in 2021.
Chewy released this statement from Diane Pelkey, vice president of communications and public relations:
“Given the success of our automation initiatives, and the productivity benefits, we have made the decision to close one of our oldest fulfillment centers located in Mechanicsburg … and will move operations to an adjacent facility. All team members employed at our Mechanicsburg facility have been given the opportunity to transfer to another fulfillment center.”
The WARN filing said that workers who do not accept the transfer offer to Lewisberry “will be permanently separated from employment on various dates beginning June 3, 2023, or during the 14-day period commencing on that date, but with no less than 60 days advance written notice.”
Paula Wolf is a freelance writer
"
