One of Minnesota’s largest beer distributors selling to Breakthru Beverage, potentially laying off 180 employees

One of Minnesota’s largest beer distributors has agreed to be acquired by another distributor and will lay off 180 employees.

J.J. Taylor Distributing Company of Minnesota and Breakthru Beverage Group jointly announced an agreement Wednesday for Breakthru to acquire J.J. Taylor and its 600,000-square-foot warehouse in northeast Minneapolis.

J.J. Taylor’s website says it has become the largest beer distributor in the state after acquiring the beer distributorship known as East Side Beverage in 1985.

As a result of the sale, J.J. Taylor plans to lay off approximately 180 employees from its northeast Minneapolis warehouse starting on May 30. A Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice (WARN) filed with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development states that Breakthru may be interested in re-hiring most of the employees.

A spokesperson for Breakthru Beverage gave the following statement to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS on Thursday, reaffirming the plan to retain many of J.J. Taylor’s employees:

“Because JJ Taylor will be ceasing its Minnesota operations upon the closing of the transaction with Breakthru, it filed required legal WARN documentation with the appropriate state agencies. Breakthru anticipates that it will have job opportunities for a significant number of JJT employees, and both JJ Taylor and Breakthru have communicated that fact to the employees. Breakthru looks forward to welcoming these employees into its organization.”

The companies also offered the following statements regarding the sale:

“There’s great synergy between our companies in Minnesota. This combination will dramatically enhance operations in the Twin Cities and reinforces our commitment to this market as we deploy our full suite of best-in-class capabilities and digital resources to help supplier and customer partners better reach their target consumers and drive results,” Tom Bené, Breakthru Beverage Group’s president and CEO, said in a statement regarding the sale agreement. “This is another strong step in our overall growth agenda, where we remain focused on strengthening our position throughout the United States and Canada.”

“We are pleased with the sale of our Minnesota business to Breakthru and are confident the newly combined team will continue our legacy of ‘First Choice’ service in the Twin Cities,” John Taylor, J.J. Taylor Companies chairman, president and CEO, added.

The cost of the deal wasn’t announced.