Rykoff-Sexton Plans To Close Local Center

Rykoff-Sexton Inc. on Friday said it will close its Spokane distribution center July 19, throwing 40 people out of work.

The Chicago-based manufacturer and distributor of food and equipment will retain a sales and restaurant design staff at its East Sprague offices, employing 30 people.

The company’s 50,000-square-foot warehouse, 421 N. Freya, will be sold, said Northwest division President Paul Junker.

“We always try to keep as many people as we can,” Junker said. “One of the problems here was that it (distribution center) was just too inefficient.”

Rykoff-Sexton’s Portland distribution center will continue to deliver products to Spokane and Idaho, but service to parts of Montana will discontinue.

Rykoff-Sexton, which in Spokane is still referred to by its old name, S.E. Rykoff & Co., employs 5,400 people nationwide, with more than $1.5 billion in annual sales.

The company began serving Spokane in 1977 when it acquired Empire Food Service Inc. from businessman Walter Bare.

, DataTimes