America’s Second-Largest Alcohol Distributor to Lay Off 160 Employees

(Photo: RNDC)

The Republic National Distributing Company has warned that it may lay off as many as 160 employees in Alaska pending an acquisition by rival firm Columbia Distributing. It’s the latest in a string of cutbacks as the prolific distributor continues to shed thousands of workers in a dramatic nationwide restructuring bid.

On July 6, RNDC filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification that warned of 160 potential layoffs at a facility in Juneau, Alaska. Companies are required to file a WARN notice 60 days in advance if they plan to downsize over 100 employees, though the notice does not obligate the company to follow through on layoffs. Columbia Distributing is currently negotiating with RNDC to acquire its Alaska assets, and the company says some employees may be offered jobs if the deal goes through.

“We are providing this notice to you at this time since the contemplated transaction has not been finalized and there is no guarantee that employees employed at or reporting to the Facility will remain employed as discussions remain ongoing,” the company wrote.

RNDC — the second-largest alcohol distributor in America behind Southern Glazer’s — has struggled to regain its footing amid industry headwinds over the past few years.

Last summer, the company announced its surprise exit from California after Jack Daniel’s owner Brown-Forman and Tito’s Vodka, among others, parted ways with its operations in the state. A WARN notice indicated that the company may have laid off as many as 1,756 employees.

Less than a year later, RNDC notified officials that it might downsize 2,7774 workers across multiple markets. The layoffs were tied to a pending transaction with Reyes Beverage Group, which had agreed to take over operations in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Texas and Virginia.

The how and why of RNDC’s sudden collapse is largely unknown to the public. Though the company is one of many hoping to stay afloat amid declining alcohol consumption rates, RNDC’s woes appear to lie deeper than current drinking trends.

The company has lost contracts with spirits giants Pernod Ricard, Sazerac and Brown-Forman in dozens of states, a shift that insiders have attributed to overexpansion and an aggressive debt burden. VinePair’s Dave Infante estimates that RNDC currently holds fewer than five of the markets it held as recently as 2024.