More than 200 to lose jobs as massive Merced magazine print plant announces closure

A longtime local printer that once produced national magazines like TV Guide and People is shutting down its Merced plant, leaving many employees out of work.

Responding to an inquiry from the Sun-Star, Global marketing company Quad/Graphics Inc. confirmed the permanent closure of its Cooper Avenue plant just east of Highway 99, a move that will impact around 240 employees.

The plant is slated to close around April 28.

The news signals the final chapter for the local operation, which at one time was a symbol of economic pride for Merced County.

Longtime residents will remember when the printing operation was known as Merced Color Press, which opened in 1981 under its parent World Color Press.

The company contracted with TV Guide Magazine to print their product. In the 1990s, People Magazine was printed at the local plant, along with Time and Sports Illustrated.

In 1999, the company Quebecor merged with World Color Press, making it the largest independent printer in the world. By the mid-2000s, over 900 people worked in Merced.

Wisconsin-based Quad purchased World Color Press in 2010, and had operated the Cooper Avenue plant since. The company said the 540,000 square-foot Merced facility will now be put up for sale.

For Merced County District 3 Supervisor Daron McDaniel, the closure announcement hits close to home. His family moved to the area in July 1981 after his father took a job as the press room manager, back when the company was World Color Press.

“It touches me personally because it’s been here ever since I’ve been here, and I’m here because of that place,” he said. “As a county supervisor in the area it’s a pretty big blow.”

Merced Mayor Matthew Serratto said he sees the closing of the facility having a local impact.

“Certainly it’s going to have a negative impact. Anytime we lose a significant employer like that it’s a blow to our local economy,” said Serratto.

Serratto went on to say that a city’s job space is really a foundation for everything. “My heart goes out to everybody who’s affected by it,” he said.

Reasons behind the closure

According to a statement from the company, the closure is part of an ongoing strategy to maximize production capabilities to “achieve the greatest manufacturing and distribution efficiencies, and overall value to clients. “

“This decision in no way reflects the quality and performance of employees in the plant, all of whom have performed well and worked hard to make the plant succeed,” the statement said.

The statement from Quad did not indicate whether the general decline of print products over the years played a role in the closure.

“Print remains an important and integral part of Quad’s unique integrated marketing platform that helps brands reduce the complexity of working with multiple agency partners and vendors; increase marketing process efficiency; and maximize marketing effectiveness,” the statement said.

Other factors may also be at play. In January the stock and sector analysis website Simply Wall Street reported the company has not been profitable for the past 12 months.

“In the last five years Quad/Graphics saw its revenue shrink by 8.2% per year. While far from catastrophic that is not good. If a business loses money, you want it to grow, so no surprises that the share price has dropped 13% each year in that time,” the article stated.

In the meantime, the company says it’s offering affected employees separation packages that include severance pay, continuation of health care benefits and career transition assistance through a career counseling company.

Work at the Cooper Avenue plant will be transitioned to other locations including plants in the company’s U.S. printing facilities, the company said.

Quad operates about 40 manufacturing and distribution facilities worldwide, and employs about 15,000 people.

The company said in a statement the majority of its operations are located in the United States where it employs more than 11,000 people and operates about 30 printing plants, as well as around 80 client-based on-sites.