LOS ANGELES — Unified Grocers here said Wednesday it has reached an agreement to continue to operate its wholesale grocery distribution business from its current facilities in Seattle for an additional five years, through 2015.
The lease extension agreement, with Sabey Corp., covers Unified's 600,000-square-foot dry grocery warehouse, its 300,000-square-foot refrigerated perishables warehouse and its offices, located in the same complex.
Unified said it remains "committed to developing and operating a new distribution center in the Puget Sound area." It also said it will continue to pursue all available alternatives to achieve that objective before the extended agreement expires.
According to Al Plamann, president and chief executive officer, "Extending the lease was the best option for the company at this particular time. The lease extension provides us with more time to carefully analyze new possibilities for a distribution center and also to monitor and evaluate changing economic and marketplace conditions. In the end, we believe these factors will result in a better long-term solution for our business in the Pacific Northwest."
The leased facility had been the offices and distribution center of Associated Grocers, Seattle, before Unified acquired AG in 2007. AG had negotiated a sale-leaseback agreement with Sabey Corp. earlier that year.
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