Highland-based Strack & Van Til has reported to Illinois that it will lay off more than 750 workers when it closes seven Ultra Fresh Foods stores, bringing the total number of layoffs at the supermarket chain and its embattled parent company to 1,935 this year.
The 58-year-old grocery store chain submitted Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, Act notices to the Illinois Department of Security that it would lay off 752 workers when it closes its Ultra stores in Lansing, Chicago Heights, Crestwood, Calumet Park, Forest Park, Wheaton and Joliet.
That includes 138 layoffs at the Lansing Ultra at 16831 Torrence Ave., which it spent millions to renovate in 2015, adding a sushi bar and other modern amenities. Ultra had just opened the Crestwood store, which employed 86, in 2012.
All the Ultra stores are slated to close by June 17, which is when the layoffs are slated to take place, according to the WARN notices.
Strack & Van Til earlier warned the Indiana Department of Workforce Development it would lay off 174 workers at its locations on Ridge Road in Gary and the Merrill Point shopping center in Merrillville, which are also slated to shutter by June 17.
The latest wave of layoffs came as troubled cooperative Central Grocers, which filed for bankruptcy Thursday, looks to sell 22 Strack & Van Til stores to a yet-unnamed buyer. The cooperative, which serves other Region grocery stores like Save More in Gary and Walt's Food Centers in Dyer and the south suburbs, told employees it was shuttering the nine Ultra stores because they were underperforming and the prospective buyer wasn't interested.
Central Grocers, a 100-year-old business that served 400 independent grocers in the Chicago metro, told its employees it plans to lay off 549 truckers and warehouse workers when its main warehouse closes and is sold off in an auction.
The business also is hoping to sell off the 22 remaining Strack & Van Til stores through a bankruptcy court-supervised auction, though unpaid creditors are petitioning a court for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy that would liquidate its assets.
Earlier this year, Strack & Van Til announced 460 layoffs when it closed five stores in April, including a longtime Merrillville location.
The entire grocery industry has been struggling with historically low prices and increased competition, including from online meal home delivery services such as Blue Apron, Hello Fresh and Home Chef. Al's Supermarket, Marsh, Meijer and Whole Foods all have been closing stores — in Indiana, the Chicago metro and across the nation.