Alcohol distributor Republic National laying off hundreds in Bay Area as it exits state
Citing rising operational costs, the alcohol wholesaler Republic National Distributing Co. plans to exit California come September, shedding 1,756 jobs statewide in its wake.
A combined 878 jobs will be cut at Tustin and Chino facilities, according to company filings with the state’s Employment Development Department. Another 486 positions will be gone in Hayward, Morgan Hill and Pleasanton — all in Northern California.
Other job cuts are coming to Young’s Market Co. LLC, the 137-year-old Tustin-based spirits distributor that Republic National bought in 2022. A combined 392 layoffs are coming to San Diego (80), Commerce (176) and Sacramento (136).
The layoffs, effective Sept. 2, will come in phases — depending on location — through the end of the year, according to the filings.
The biggest cuts are coming to the company’s two Franklin Avenue facilities in Tustin, where 640 workers, or 36% of the company’s affected California workforce, will lose their jobs.
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Bob Hendrickson, chief executive officer of Republic National, wrote in a memo to employees that the company would be leaving the California market after spirits giant Brown-Forman downsized its distribution partnership, choosing rival Reyes Beverage Group. A copy of the memo was provided by Republic National spokeswoman Kanchan Kinkade. The memo does not say if any workers will remain in California after the layoffs.
The decision to exit California was “driven by rising operational costs, industry headwinds, and supplier changes that made the market unsustainable,” Hendrickson wrote to staff.
Brown-Forman ended partnerships across all U.S. markets, effective Aug. 1. Hendrickson characterized the contract loss as part of “a broader strategic shift — not performance-related.
“While this brings change, we are actively evaluating the impact and charting a path to emerge stronger. We’ve faced challenges before and grown through them — we’ll do so again,” he wrote. “It’s important to emphasize this is not a reflection of our California team’s performance or dedication.”
The layoffs cover a broad swath of positions in California, according to July 1 letters filed with the EDD by Ayesha Mahapatra, senior vice president and deputy general counsel for Republic National. Positions include drivers with the Teamsters union, sales representatives, accountants, credit and collection managers, clerks, district sales managers, human resource specialists, pricing analysts and a senior vice president in charge of spirits.
The filings were made as part of the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act — commonly referred to as WARN, which are required when an employer lays off more than 50 employees. All affected employees are notified at least 60 days before their terminations are scheduled to occur, according to Mahapatra.
Brown-Forman produces a variety of rum, gin and whiskey brands such as Jack Daniel’s whiskey, Woodford Reserve, Herradura, el Jimador, Korbel and Fords Gin.