CANTON, Mass. -- Cumberland Farms Inc. has laid off between 50 and 60 workers at its Westboro, Mass., warehouse facility, shutting down bakery, sandwich-making and bottle-making operations as it moves that work to outside vendors, reported The Telegram & Gazette.
The company will continue to use the 550,000-square-foot facility as a distribution center, and about 150 people remain employed there, Christen Graham, a spokesperson for Cumberland Farms, told the newspaper.
Cumberland Farms is "getting out of the bakery business," Graham said. "The motivation is to keep to their core [image-nocss] business, which is operating their convenience stores."
The company's Westboro facility, a massive center visible from the Massachusetts Turnpike, sits on a 94-acre property, said the report. The bakery operation at the Westboro center produced bread and doughnuts for Cumberland Farms stores. The commissary made fresh sandwiches, and a plastics operation made bottles.
A few of the affected workers are transferring to other jobs at the site, Graham added. Others will receive two months' severance pay and benefits.
Under federal law, employers that close facilities or lay off more than 50 people at a time generally must give 60 days' written notice to workers or be liable for back pay and benefits, the report said.
Graham said Cumberland Farms, which owns the Westboro property, plans to continue operating the distribution center and warehouse.
Canton, Mass.-based Cumberland Farms is a privately held business that operates about 1,000 convenience stores in the Northeast and Florida.
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