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Bottler will move to Sysco warehouse

By G. Jeffrey Aaron
Star-Gazette
January 17, 2001

The Pepsi Bottling Group of Somers, N.Y., the soft drink distributor that is purchasing the Pepsi-Cola Elmira Bottling Co., has bought the former Sysco Food Services property in Horseheads to house the local bottler

The sale of Pepsi-Cola Elmira should be completed in about two months. The business will then leave its current location at 2070 Lake Road and move into the 73,269-square –foot warehouse and office complex at 140 Wygant Road, said Pepsi Bottling Group spokeswoman Kelly McAndrew.

A Separate 3,904-square-foot building used as a truck service and repair facility at Sysco is also included in the deal, which was completed on Jan. 10 . Documents related to the sale price of the property were not yet on file at the Chemung County Clerk’s Office.

The warehouse facility is being retrofitted with bottling lines and other equipment to make it appropriate for the soft drink company’s planned use, McAndrew said.

“The Sysco property is a larger place, and we were looking for a site that would allow us to grow the business in the future,” McAndrew said. “This location fits the criteria.”

Sysco’s former warehouse has been vacant since July, when the Texas-based food wholesaler pulled up stakes and transferred its Horseheads operations to Syracuse. About 270 Sysco employees and more than 2,300 food customers were affected by the move.

The Pepsi’s Bottling Group operates 67 plants and 320 distribution centers in the United States, Canada, Spain, Greece and Russia and is the world’s largest bottler of Pepsi beverages. The company’s sales account for 55 percent of Pepsi’s North American sales and 32 percent of sales worldwide.

Pepsi officials in Somers said the group plans to increase its sales volume at a rate of 1 percent to 2 percent a year by buying out distributors.

The purchase of Pepsi-Cola Elmira adds 10 countries in northern Pennsylvania and western New York to the Pepsi Bottling Group’s distribution area.

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