Why This Matters to Distributors. The RNDC contraction illustrates how supplier concentration risk compounds at scale — once major brands begin defecting, the resulting revenue loss accelerates cost-per-case, narrows the supplier portfolio needed to attract replacements and forces the kind of geographic retrenchment now reflected in WARN filings across more than a dozen states.
Republic National Distributing Co. has filed conditional layoff notices covering 2,774 employees across six states as the Grand Prairie, Texas-based beverage alcohol distributor moves toward completing a pending sale of operations in 11 markets to Reyes Beverage Group.
The notices, filed April 22 and 23 under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, cover workers in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, South Carolina, and Virginia. Florida accounts for the largest share of affected employees, with 1,046 workers across four facilities — 363 in Deerfield Beach, 393 in Tampa, 169 in Jacksonville and 121 in Pensacola.
The remaining notices cover 451 workers in West Columbia, S.C.; 428 in Ashland, Va.; 318 in Jessup, Md.; 320 in Littleton, Colo.; and 211 in Phoenix. Most separations are set to take effect within 14 days of June 21. The South Carolina closure is effective July 5.
DSG has reached out to RNDC for comment and had not received a response at time of publication.
In a joint announcement March 20, Reyes Beverage Group and RNDC confirmed they had entered into purchase agreements for Reyes to acquire RNDC’s operations in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. The parties said the transaction is on track to close as early as the end of May 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing requirements.
“We believe Reyes is the right distributor to lead in these markets,” said Marc Sachs, president and chief executive officer of RNDC. “We are committed to working with the RBG team to ensure a smooth transition for our employees, suppliers and customers.”
“As Reyes celebrates its 50th anniversary, this marks an exciting new chapter for our team,” said Tom Day, chief executive officer of Reyes Beverage Group. “Our thanks to the RNDC team for their engagement throughout this process. We look forward to the opportunity to welcome new team members, supplier partners and customers in these markets.”
Reyes Beverage Group said it plans to run the newly acquired businesses separately from its current operations as it onboards new team members and suppliers. Upon completion, the transaction will be Reyes’ largest acquisition to date. Across 55 facilities, the company’s team of more than 10,000 people delivers 320 million cases annually to more than 115,000 retail accounts.
The April WARN filings follow a larger workforce reduction that began in 2025. RNDC notified California regulators in July 2025 of 1,756 layoffs tied to its full withdrawal from that state, effective Sept. 2, 2025. The California exits included permanent closures and layoffs affecting workers across facilities in Tustin, Chino, San Diego, Commerce, Sacramento, and West Sacramento — the latter tied to Young’s Market Company, a distributor RNDC acquired in 2022.
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