Coca-Cola Celebrates Grand Opening Of New Louisville Sales, Distribution Center

March 27, 2015

LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Coca-Cola opened a new chapter in its 114-year history in Louisville, KY today as Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated (NASDAQ: COKE) celebrated the grand opening of its new Sales and Distribution Center and made its formal debut as Louisville’s new Coca-Cola bottler.

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer joined Coca-Cola officials, civic and community leaders and key customers at an open house and ribbon cutting ceremony at the company’s new 305,000 square foot sales and distribution center in Southwest Louisville.

“We are very excited about being the new Coca-Cola bottler in Louisville and becoming part of the Louisville community,” said Coca-Cola Consolidated Chairman & CEO Frank Harrison. “This is a great, vibrant city with a long Coca-Cola history. We look forward to serving our customers and consumers from this new, state of the art facility.”

Charlotte NC-based Coca-Cola Consolidated, the nation’s largest independent Coca-Cola bottler, formally became the Coca-Cola bottler for the Louisville Coca-Cola franchise at the end of February. On the 25-acre site in Southwest Louisville, the company has renovated a once-vacant warehouse, created office space and added 100,000 square feet of new construction for a make ready center with an investment of more than $12 million.

“I am very pleased to welcome Coca-Cola Consolidated to the City of Louisville,” said Mayor Greg Fischer. “This major investment in their new facility is a positive statement about the company’s commitment to Louisville, and we look forward to working with Coca-Cola Consolidated as they become part of the Louisville community.”

“Coca-Cola has a long history in Louisville,” said James Reddish, Vice President of Greater Louisville, Inc (GLI). “On behalf of the business community, we want to welcome GLI top investor Coca-Cola Consolidated to our city and applaud them for the significant investment in this new facility and their commitment to strengthen our region.”

The new facility will handle sales and distribution of Coca-Cola products in a 21-county area stretching from Owen County to Hardin County in Kentucky and Jefferson County to Harrison County in Indiana. The company currently has 350 employees working in the Louisville franchise territory. In addition, a new ‘make ready center’, which will handle deployment and refurbishing of vending and other sales equipment, is still under construction and will open later this spring. The facility is located on Global Drive in Southwest Louisville.

Louisville traces its Coca-Cola history back to 1901 when it became the third franchise to sell what was to become the world’s best-selling soft drink and most recognized trademark. “Louisville has played a significant role in the history of Coca-Cola and was one of the first cities in the world to bottle and sell this great brand,” Harrison said. A fourth-generation bottler himself, Harrison’s family roots in the business started with his great-grandfather, J.B. Harrison, who launched Coca-Cola in Greensboro, NC in 1902. Over the last century Coca-Cola Consolidated has expanded to become the largest independent Coca-Cola bottler in the United States.

The plan for Coca-Cola Consolidated to acquire the Louisville franchise territory from an affiliate of The Coca-Cola Company was first announced in early 2013 and a definitive purchase agreement for the acquisition was signed in December 2014. In addition to the Louisville franchise, Coca-Cola Consolidated also acquired the franchise in Evansville, Indiana. The Company has signed definitive purchase agreements for additional Kentucky franchises, including Lexington, Pikeville and Paducah, and hopes to conclude those transactions later in 2015.

Headquartered in Charlotte, NC, Coca-Cola Consolidated is the nation’s largest independent Coca-Cola bottler with franchise territories in 11 states. The Company’s current major markets include: Charlotte, Raleigh, Wilmington, Greenville, the Triad, and Asheville in NC; Greenville, Columbia, and Charleston in SC; Charleston, Beckley, and Parkersburg in WV; Roanoke and Bristol in VA; Cleveland, Nashville, Johnson City, Morristown and Knoxville in TN; Columbus and Albany in GA; Mobile, AL; Panama City, FL; and Biloxi, MS.

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