Palm Coast Data and Kable Fulfillment to Merge Under Palm Coast Brand

Colorado and Illinois operations to be transitioned to Palm Coast, Florida location.

By Bill Mickey
Friday, October 10, 2008

Palm Coast Data announced today that it will be absorbing Kable Fulfillment Services into the Palm Coast brand and moving the Colorado and Illinois operations down to Palm Coast, Florida. The combined entity has a client roster of more than 300 U.S. publishers.

Kable closed on its purchase of Palm Coast Data in 2007 for approximately $92 million, and parent company AMREP has been chipping away at a merger of the two companies since. Now, however, this announcement effectively signals the completion of the transition to one of the biggest fulfillment houses in the industry. “Now it is time to take the merger a step further and unify,” said John Meneough, Palm Coast’s president, in a statement.

The Colorado and Illinois operations will be relocated to the Palm Coast, Florida facilities during a “phased process”, a move that is expected to impact approximately 875 positions across the two locations, according to a spokesperson. Employees will be given the chance to apply to the new jobs in Florida. The spokesperson says the Colorado facility is planned to fully close in 2010. The Illinois location is still under review, but plans have it closed sometime between fall 2010 and spring 2011.

Despite the fact that Kable purchased Palm Coast Data, and PCD [new logo pictured] will continue to operate as a division of Kable, Palm Coast was chosen as the primary brand and headquarters because it has a larger client base and twice the number of employees in one location. The city of Palm Coast, says the statement, has an “abundant workforce readily available” and PCD owns its current facility and has the land needed for an expansion if necessary. “These factors, combined with the competitive incentives offered by Florida and Palm Coast, as well as easy access to the regional, national and global marketplace, all played a key role in the decision to unify operations,” said Meneough in the statement.