SPARTANBURG - Adidas AG and its recently acquired Reebok brand will bring 1,200 jobs to Spartanburg with their recently announced construction of an expanded sports apparel and sneaker distribution site, state officials said Friday.
"As we work to diversify our economy, our state's ability to attract and grow world-class companies like Adidas is increasingly important. Given the size of this investment and the number of jobs that come along with it, this is a real win for Spartanburg County," said Gov. Mark Sanford.
The new, $150 million center will be built as the company closes centers in Massachusetts, Tennessee and Kentucky. The "vast majority" of the 375 jobs to be cut at the four distribution centers due to be closed will be shifted to Spartanburg, Bob Munroe, president of Reebok US, said Thursday.
The consolidation is designed to streamline the far-flung distribution operations of Adidas and Reebok, Munroe said.
Germany-based Adidas completed its $3.8 billion acquisition of Canton-based Reebok in January 2006 - a move Adidas made in hopes of doubling its U.S. business and narrowing Nike Inc.'s market leadership.
Spartanburg was chosen for the two brands' consolidated distribution center in part because it's close to the two brands' product shipping locations and to many customers, Munroe said.
The 34 employees at Adidas' Spartanburg shoe distribution center will move a few miles away to the new expanded center when it opens by fall 2009.
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