Mt. Olive Pickle Co. buys Hilex Poly building
By From staff reports
Published in News on May 13, 2017 11:38 PM
MOUNT OLIVE -- The former Hilex Poly facility has been purchased by the Mt. Olive Pickle Co.
The $1.8 million purchase was closed on April 27, and includes a 23-acre tract and a one-story building totaling 140,000 square feet.
The property is located on the Old Mount Olive Highway just north of town adjacent to the Mount Olive Industrial Park and two of the company's other warehouses.
Hilex Poly used the facility to manufacture plastic bags, and most recently it was used to store equipment.
Mt. Olive intends to convert the space into warehousing for finished products. It is expected to have a capacity of approximately 1.3 million cases. A $1 million, two-month renovation of the building started last week.
"We continue to require increasing amounts of warehouse space as our sales grow," said Bill Bryan, chairman of the board. "This purchase gives us the warehousing we need to effectively manage our inventories for the immediate future."
This is the latest purchase in a string of additions and expansions at Mt. Olive Pickle in recent years, including the purchase of the IMPulse NC/Triangle Spring facilities in March 2016.
The company purchased the Walker Warehouse, the 55,000-square-foot former shell building, from the Wayne Economic Development Alliance in 2015, and in late 2014 Mt. Olive purchased the 60,000-square-foot Wilco Warehouse, which it had previously leased.
Mt. Olive Pickle's distribution center, which sits nearby, underwent a 138,000 square-foot expansion in 2012. A second, 77,000-square-foot expansion at the distribution center in 2014 gave the company space for two new production lines, the first of which came online last June.
With this most recent purchase, Mt. Olive Pickle's manufacturing and warehouse space totals 1.2 million square feet spread over nearly 175 acres.
As the company has grown in recent years, so has its employment. The company now has 600 employees year-round, up from 528 in 2013, with another 350 seasonal workers in the summer time.
Annual payroll was $35.6 million in 2016.
In business since 1926, Mt. Olive Pickle Co. manufactures the best-selling brand of pickles in the country, with distribution in all 50 states.