When a warehouse goes dark, a certain kind of silence descends upon a small Southern town. The half-empty parking lot during shift change, the forklifts operating a little more slowly, the rumor that spreads from the break room to the gas station before management ever confirms anything—you can almost feel it before the official notice is sent out. Right now, Lexington, North Carolina, is sitting in that silence. Vitacost submitted a WARN notice to the state on April 29. The lights at 130 Lexington Parkway will be permanently turned off by July 1. 130 employees were removed from the payroll.
A portion of the story, but never the entirety, is revealed by the numbers. 88 members of the warehouse team. There are fourteen team leaders. One supply chain manager, one HR associate, a safety manager, and a few supervisors. Unless you happen to know one of the names associated with those titles, it’s the kind of breakdown you read in a press release and forget by lunchtime. Many people in Davidson County do.
| Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Company | Vitacost |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Headquarters | Boca Raton, Florida |
| Industry | Online health, wellness & supplements retail |
| Lexington Facility Address | 130 Lexington Parkway, Lexington, NC |
| Year Lexington Center Opened | 2008 |
| Total Layoffs Announced | 130 employees |
| Effective Layoff Date | July 1, 2026 |
| Notice Type | WARN Notice (filed April 29, 2026) |
| Current Parent Company | iHerb |
| Previous Owner | Kroger (2014–January 2026) |
| Original Kroger Acquisition Price | $280 million |
| Union Status | Non-union workforce |
| Largest Affected Group | 88 warehouse team members |
For years, Vitacost has been floating around between owners like a box that no one knew quite what to do with. In an attempt to boost its grocery delivery goals, Kroger paid $280 million for it in 2014. That wager was not very profitable. Kroger sold the business to iHerb in January, presenting the transaction in that cautious corporate manner as an attempt to “simplify the organization.” We tried translation, but it didn’t work, so someone else can use it.
iHerb wasted very little time. The choice to consolidate was made following what a company spokesperson called a review of its U.S. logistics network. Lexington was defeated. Earlier this spring, 113 employees in Las Vegas did the same. A pattern is emerging, and it’s not subtle.
Locally, the history is what hurts. Vitacost established the Lexington fulfillment center in 2008 and used a $450,000 state grant to expand it in 2010 with a $6.7 million investment. Public funds, public hope, and the customary ribbon-cutting pictures. The building is being cleared out eighteen years later. It’s difficult to ignore how frequently this tale is repeated throughout the Carolinas—a textile mill here, a furniture factory there, and now a vitamin gummy warehouse. The same arc, but a different decade.
Speaking with those who monitor the local economy gives me the impression that something more significant is changing. Despite the construction of new logistics hubs close to the airport, Charlotte and the surrounding counties have already seen over 1,150 job cuts this year. The work is simply shifting, frequently to locations with less expensive land, denser highway access, or just different spreadsheet logic, rather than completely disappearing. It’s another matter entirely whether the displaced workers in Lexington can pursue those jobs or if they would want to.
Employees are currently carrying out the customs of those in their position. Updating resumes. Making a call to relatives. Concerned about health insurance, severance, and whether the mortgage will last through the fall. A few of them have been employed at that warehouse for more than ten years. They’ll be searching for something different by Independence Day. The structure will remain in place, awaiting whatever comes next for Lexington.
