Wallingford-based Edible Arrangements to relocate headquarters to Atlanta

Fouad Elgoute, owner of Hamden Edible Arrangements, at right, and his store manager, Saba Shanawar, put the finishing touches on a three-foot tall, 65 pound edible arrangement at the Eli WhitneyMuseum's 23rd annual Leonardo in Bloom Challenge fundraiser in 2017. less Fouad Elgoute, owner of Hamden Edible Arrangements, at right, and his store manager, Saba Shanawar, put the finishing touches on a three-foot tall, 65 pound edible arrangement at the Eli WhitneyMuseum's 23rd ... more Photo: Catherine Avalone / Hearst Connecticut Media File Photo Photo: Catherine Avalone / Hearst Connecticut Media File Photo Image 1 of / 18 Caption Close Wallingford-based Edible Arrangements to relocate headquarters to Atlanta 1 / 18 Back to Gallery

WALLINGFORD — Edible Arrangements is relocating its headquarters to the Atlanta area by the end of this year, company officials said Tuesday.

The company will retain a small presence in Wallingford, with about 20 people working there. But what isn’t immediately clear in the announcement by Mike Rotondo, the company’s new chief executive officer, is how many of the 130 Connecticut headquarters employees will lose their jobs as a result of the decision or if any employees will be offered relocation packages.

Alicia Thompson, a company spokeswoman, said “a small percentage” of the company’s current headquarters staff will be offered jobs in Georgia. She said company officials haven’t yet determined how many of the remaining employees will be laid off.

The indication is that there will be some layoffs as a result of the move: Company officials say they will issue a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notice. The WARN Act is a federal law requiring employers of 100 or more full-time workers to give 60 days advance notice of a plant closing or mass layoff, which is defined as 50 or more people.

“We are excited to make Atlanta the brand’s home base as we build a best in class Support Center for our franchise owners,” said Rotondo said in a statement. “Edible’s Wallingford office is an important part of the brand’s history and heritage, and we will always have a presence in the community. At the same time, the global marketplace is changing at a rapid pace and Atlanta is an attractive location to base much of the team needed to support the company’s next phase of growth.”

Rotondo became chief executive of the company on July 10 as Edible Arrangements founder and former chief executive Tariq Farid shifted his focus to expanding subsidiaries that service the core business. Edible Arrangements specializes in franchised locations that sell fresh-cut fruit arrangements.

Edible opened an Atlanta office as a “second” headquarters in March 2018 because of that city’s access to major transportation hubs and other resources for services that were previously handled out of Wallingford. When Rotondo’s hiring was announced, Farid said there were not plans to relocate the headquarters.

Catherine Smith, the commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Economic and Community Development, said in a statement that “any time a company announces a headquarter relocation out of state it is disappointing news.”

“But we have had many more wins than losses in this area,” Smith said in a statement. “We have successfully recruited more than 90 companies—including several FORTUNE 500 companies—to the state and continue to see great interest from corporations looking to expand or relocate here. Today’s news, while unfortunate, does not hinder the positive momentum we are seeing on several economic development fronts.”

Donald Klepper-Smith, chief economist and director of research for New Haven-based DataCore Partners, said Edible Arrangements move is being driven by a variety of factors.

“What we have here are pronounced and profound demographic shifts for one thing,” Klepper-Smith said. “Census projections through 2030 show significant migration to the Southeast and West.”

On average, a net total of 428 people per week move out of Connecticut, he said.

Connecticut has the fifth highest cost in the United States for companies doing business, he said. And a third and equally important factor is likely Rotondo’s already having a presence in Atlanta, according to Klepper-Smith.

“Where a CEO has business contacts is just another piece of the puzzle when it comes to where you locate a company,” he said.

Edible Arrangements current Atlanta office office is in the Lakeside Commons buildings in Sandy Springs, a suburb located north of the city. The space will serve as the base of operations for the company’s franchise operations, but company officials were not immediately available to sat whether that will be the company’s new headquarters.

luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com