Staples closing South Lebanon warehouse; 103 to lose jobs

The warehouse at 1 Keystone Drive is a 221,315-square-foot building on 33.1 acres in the Lebanon Valley Business Park. It had supported two shifts of workers.  

Initially, the warehouse was scheduled to close March 27, but sources say it may have already closed, because the parking lot has been empty this week.  

Susan Eberly, president of the Lebanon Valley Economic Development Corp., said the South Lebanon warehouse will be consolidated with a similar warehouse in Chambersburg.  

“If there are any openings (at Chambersburg), (the workers) can apply there,” Eberly said.  

The South Lebanon warehouse distributes office supplies and paper products for Staples, currently the No. 1 supplier of office products in the U.S.  

“The biggest problem is all the purchases being made online,” said Eberly. “It’s really changing the way people do business.”  

The Staples retail store in the Cedar Crest Square shopping center on Route 72 in North Cornwall Township is not affected by the closing of the warehouse, according to an employee at the store.  

However, Eberly said, they really don’t know what impact the closing of the warehouse will have on the store, although at this time, the store is slated to remain open.  

Calls to Staples officials were not immediately returned.  

Staples was the second corporation to purchase land in the business park, when it was bought in 1992 under the name of Quill, another paper products company. Staples either merged with Quill or bought them, Eberly said.  

“We’re just sad to see the facility close,” Eberly said. “They’ve been a great tenant in the Lebanon Valley Business Park. It’s always sad when you see a facility close.”  

When more than 50 employees at one business are laid off, the state Labor and Industry Bureau meets with the managers to see if the closure can be avoided.  

“They meet with the company to see if there is anything the state can do to prevent the closure,” Eberly said. “If not, we move to the second phase and bring in people who can help them find jobs. They had already made up their minds that the consolidation was going to happen.”  

Lebanon CareerLink met with employees in February, according to Martin Wubbolt, site administrator for CareerLink, to outline the procedures needed to receive unemployment compensation and to give them job-hunting advice.  

“As soon as they informed them that it was closing, they bring in CareerLink and other local agencies to talk to the employees,” Wubbolt said.  

It’s up to the employee if they want to meet with CareerLink when the agency goes to the business, Wubbolt said, and about half of the employees from Staples have taken advantage of the meetings and information.

“They definitely will get unemployment compensation when they get laid off,” Wubbolt said.  

This is the first major facility closing this year, Wubbolt said, adding that last year, BC Chicken in Fredericksburg laid off about 600 employees.  

Eberly said interest in the building has already been expressed by another company. She did not identify the other company.  

Last August, Staples announced plans to close about 140 locations, designed to counter weakening sales. The retailer also agreed to buy No. 2 office supplier Office Depot in a $6.3 million deal.

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This article comes to us through a partnership between the Lebanon Daily News and WITF.