Ritz Food Service shuts abruptly

By Kevin McCallum & STEVE HART
THE PRESS DEMOCRATRitz

Food Service, a longtime Santa Rosa food distributor that serviced restaurants, schools and health care centers across Northern California, is folding after a half-century in business.

Employees learned Tuesday in an e-mail from president Ritz A. Guggiana that Wednesday would be the last day they would make deliveries, according to Phillip Peterson, a driver for the company for 15 years.

"One-day notice. Just like that," said the 44-year-old Santa Rosa resident.

Late Tuesday afternoon, employees were removing boxes of personal belongings from the Ritz headquarters on Dutton Avenue.

"I'm in shock," said Lyell Smith, a fleet manager who had worked at Ritz for 29 years.

"I thought I was going to work here until I retired."

He said business had been dropping steadily, but there was no indication the company would close so suddenly. Employees said they were notified by voice mail or e-mail that the company was shutting down.

Guggiana did not return telephone calls and an e-mail seeking comment Tuesday.

Ritz had been the North Bay's largest independent food distributor, serving customers from San Diego to Reno to the Oregon border, Smith said. It supplied food to restaurants, schools, hospitals, nursing homes and other customers.

At one point, the company had 170 employees, 40 trucks and $80_million in revenue, according to its Web site.

It was down to five trucks Tuesday, Smith said. The work force had dwindled to fewer than 100, said Scott Vanhoy, a credit manager who had worked at Ritz for more than two years.

Ritz was hurt by high gas prices earlier this year and squeezed by restaurant chains trying to cut costs, Vanhoy said. The final straw came when lenders refused to extend financing to the company, he said.

"The credit crunch hurt us," Vanhoy said.

Ritz also was in talks to sell the company, but the deal fell through, he said.

Another driver, Santa Rosa resident Mike McJunkin, said he was "stunned" by the news but knew the company was in trouble.

"I've been seeing it coming for the past two months," said Duncan, who has worked for the company for 12 years.

Ritz Food Service was founded in 1959 by Guggiana's father, Ritz C. Guggiana, as a one-man Kraft cheese distributorship, according to the company's Web site. Guggiana Sr. died in 1979, and his son took over the family business at the age of 28.

The company operated out of a 100,000-square-foot headquarters and distribution center it built on Dutton Avenue in the early 1990s after outgrowing its old building on Yolanda Avenue.

At one time, it operated a warehouse in Redding, but Peterson said that warehouse has since been closed. The company continues to pay a long-term lease on the warehouse, one of several financial setbacks the company has suffered in recent years, he said.

In addition to the strain the recession is putting on restaurants and the food service industry, Ritz was probably squeezed by larger rivals like Sysco and U.S. Foods, Peterson said.

To cut costs, the company underwent a major layoff late last year, he said.
"It was actually a real good company to work for when it was running normal," Peterson said.

You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or kevin.mccallum@pressdemocrat.com and Staff Writer Steve Hart at 521-5205 or steve.hart@pressdemocrat.com.