Big distribution concern opens warehouse in area

A multinational distribution company has opened its first Inland Northwest office, in the former Bergen Brunswig Medical Corp. facility in Liberty Lake.

The company, Bunzl Distribution Inc., operates here as Papercraft, says Scot Cissna, general manager of Bunzl/Papercraft Seattle, the office that oversees the Liberty Lake operation. Bunzl Distribution is based in St. Louis.

Bunzl/Papercraft employs nine people in the Liberty Lake facility, all but one of whom were hired locally, Cissna says.

It distributes disposable paper and packaging products, such as deli trays, bakery boxes, and grocery sacks, to the foodservice and restaurant industries. Its customers mostly "are involved in food distribution in some way," such as Sysco Corp., Food Services of America, and URM Stores Inc., Cissna says.

The company leases about 48,000 square feet of space in the former Bergen Brunswig building, at 23502 E. Knox. Purcell Systems Inc. also leases about 9,000 square feet of space there, and Critical Power Exchange LLC leases an adjacent about 36,000-square-foot structure, says Mark Lucas, of Kiemle & Hagood Co., leasing agent for the property.