<p style="text-indent:0px; line-height:12px;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Billings, MT-</span><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">By ANUK Staff<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">1.31.13</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Associated Foods Stores announced plans to close food distribution warehouses in Helena and Billings Montana that serve over 100 grocery stores in Montana and Wyoming.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The closures will cause a cumulative loss of 50 jobs at the Helena warehouse and 56 at the Billings location. A 180,000 square foot warehouse north of Salt Lake City will take over distribution duties, according to the Independent Record.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Associated Foods is a cooperative, which means that the stores it supplies own the company and will share in efficiency savings, according to Kelly Atkins, Senior Vice President in Helena.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“This decision will ultimately allow our independent grocers in Montana to continue to be strong competitors in their markets,” he said.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Closures of the Associated Foods warehouses means that Supervalu will be the only food wholesaler left in Montana, according to Atkins.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">As Supervalu recently announced the sale of 877 grocery stores to Cerberus Capital Management including all of its Albertsons locations, locals are waiting to see what will happen to local stores.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“Cerberus is known as a company that buys assets and spins them off,” he said. “Who knows what could happen.”</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://www.afstores.com/index.html" target="_new">Associated Foods </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
