North Carolina is set to lose three food-distribution facilities as Foster winds down its operations in the state. The move follows another recent grocery-distribution closure in Pennsylvania, but Foster’s planned shutdown is larger: 181 North Carolina employees are affected.
Foster operates facilities in Winston-Salem, Greenville and Colfax. The Winston-Salem site accounts for 169 affected workers, while 12 positions are tied to Greenville. The Colfax facility had no employees assigned to it when the closure notice was filed.
A major contract loss triggered the shutdown
Foster said it learned on October 14 that its largest customer would end its contract on November 11. That account represented about 70% of the company’s business. A second lost customer accounted for another 10%, leaving the distributor without enough business to keep operating.
The company described the loss of its principal account as sudden and unexpected. Because of the rapid change, Foster said it could not provide every employee with the usual 60 days of notice.
Layoffs are happening in stages
Thirty-six workers were separated on October 25. Another 121 are scheduled to leave on November 8, while the final 24 will remain through the transition and depart in groups between December 4 and March 5.
The North Carolina Department of Commerce’s WARN list classifies the Greenville and Winston-Salem closures as permanent and gives both an effective date of March 5, 2027. The affected jobs extend well beyond the warehouse floor. Local reporting says positions range from truck drivers to company leaders, including Foster’s chief executive and chief financial officers.
What the closures mean for the food supply
Foster began more than 125 years ago as a small fruit and vegetable business in Greensboro before expanding into a multi-state logistics company. Its North Carolina network has moved fresh food and provided cold storage for restaurants, schools, food pantries and other customers.
This is not a retail grocery-store closure, so shoppers are not losing a supermarket at any of these addresses. The impact will be felt behind the scenes as customers served by Foster arrange new delivery, warehousing or cold-storage services while the company winds down.
The timing makes the reversal especially striking. Foster announced an investment of about $6.25 million over five years when it unveiled plans for a 165,000-square-foot Winston-Salem distribution center, which began operating in 2025. Less than two years later, the distributor is preparing to close its North Carolina footprint entirely, with the final employee separations expected by March 5. The 10-zone hub was designed for dry, refrigerated and frozen storage, along with produce ripening, packaging and fresh-cut work.
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