Progressive closure for La Coop fédérée's hardware & material distribution centre in Trois-Rivières

TROIS-RIVIÈRES, QC, Feb. 7, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - La Coop fédérée announced today that it will progressively close its hardware and material distribution centre in Trois-Rivières which operates under the Unimat banner (4225 boulevard St Joseph, 300 rue Albert-Durand & 1650 St-François-Xavier). The agricultural machinery and parts activities will be maintained, as will the Unimat banner. La Coop fédérée estimates that the time required to carry out the complete closing will be 12 to 15 months, that is until the spring of 2015.

The first impact on employees will be in the spring of 2014 and will affect office (administration) personnel, followed by warehouse employees in the summer-fall of 2014. This procedure will ultimately touch 236 employees who will be taken care of through the assistance programs and policies of La Coop fédérée.

"Our organization will ensure a fair and equitable transition for all our employees as has always been the case. In order to minimize the impact we have also retained the services of the firm Vézina Nadeau Labre, a leader in career transition, which has successfully supported large, known groups and their distribution centres. Their expertise in the face of such a challenge is clear," noted the CEO, Claude Lafleur.

"The status quo was not a responsible decision. We looked at a lot of scenarios, including specialization, regionalization, and even bringing back certain activities. We also conducted technical analyses that were studied seriously. However, we arrived at the conclusion that we were up against the wall," added Mr. Lafleur.

The retail hardware and renovation industry has been evolving in a particular economic context for the last few years, one which has been moving toward consolidation. For La Coop fédérée and its 175 retailers, which employ 4,500 people, it is important to remain competitive. The involvement of La Coop fédérée and its network in this sector remains a priority and it intends to remain a full player.

About La Coop fédérée
Founded in 1922, La Coop fédérée is the largest agri-food enterprise in Québec and ranks amongst the 100 largest co-operatives and mutual societies in the world, across all sectors. It is owned by over 100,000 members grouped into 102 cooperatives located in several Canadian provinces. La Coop fédérée is present throughout the agri-food chain and, as well as being a wholesaler, it also provides agricultural producers with all the goods and services they require for their farming operations. The network has five brands: Elite and La Coop (animal and crop production, grain marketing), Unimat (hardware and farm machinery), Sonic (energy) and Olymel (meat processing). La Coop fédérée employs over 9,500 people with sales totaling over $5 billion. Including its affiliated network, La Coop fédérée employs almost 15,500 people with combined sales of $7.8 billion. www.lacoop.coop and twitter.com/LaCoop_federee.

SOURCE: La Coop fédérée

Source: 
Ben Marc Diendéré
Vice-president, Communications & Public Affairs
@Marc_Ben

Media contact: 
Stéphanie Couturier
Communications advisor
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