Pepsi is closing its Knoxville bottling plant and laying off 112 employees, according to an Oct. 19 WARN notice.
Employees were notified the same day the notice was filed, and the company is working to place affected employees at its other facilities. The closure will take effect Jan. 1. Wages and benefits will be provided through employees' last day of employment.
Hillwood Bottling LLC has owned the southeast Knoxville plant at 2708 Federal Road since 1986.
The company has a sales facility in Knoxville on Middlebrook Pike, which is not affected, and other Tennessee operations in Chattanooga, Collierville, Johnson City, Nashville and Memphis.
"We are incredibly thankful for the contributions of our employees and the support of the community," PepsiCo
wrote in a press release about the closure. "While local sales and delivery teams will continue serving Knoxville-area customers, our immediate focus is supporting affected employees through this transition."
In 2024, PepsiCo closed four U.S. bottling plants, laying off 400 workers across facilities in Cincinnati, Chicago, Pennsylvania and Atlanta. PepsiCo's stock is down 13% from a year ago, though over the past month the stock has gained 3.05%.
Sophia Tiedge is the Growth and Transformation reporter for Knox News. Email: sophia.tiedge@knoxnews.com
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Over 100 PepsiCo employees could lose their jobs as Knoxville plant closes
