Johnson and Johnson's Lititz center still in limbo - Business

By TIM MEKEEL

Updated Mar 21, 2007 13:05

While Johnson & Johnson has decided the fate of its Mechanicsburg distribution center, its Lititz distribution center remains in limbo.

J&J said earlier this month it will replace the Mechanicsburg location with a new $68 million distribution center under construction in Tobyhanna, Monroe County, to be built with $1.6 million in state aid.

The Tobyhanna center — measuring 1.37 million square feet, about the size of Park City Center — will be occupied under a long-term lease this fall, eventually creating 700 jobs.

Then next year J&J will vacate the smaller 400-employee facility that it leases in Mechanicsburg.

Despite the announcement in Tobyhanna, J&J spokeswoman Iris Grossman said the company has yet to decide what to do with its 150-employee distribution center here.

"We still don't know," she said Tuesday, echoing her comment on the issue in January.

"We're still assessing how (Tobyhanna) will affect the distribution center" in Lititz.

J&J bought the distribution center and accompanying manufacturing plant from Pfizer in December.

The plant is best known for making Listerine.