Coca-Cola Bottling to enter new markets in 10 states and Washington, DC

Charlotte-based Coca-Cola Bottling Consolidated announced Wednesday it has signed a letter of intent to expand its franchise territory to new markets in 10 states and Washington, D.C.

The bottler announced it has signed a nonbinding letter with the Coca-Cola Co. for exclusive distribution rights in territories that include Baltimore, and the Virginia cities of Alexandria, Norfolk and Richmond. Other regions included in the plan are territories within Delaware, Washington, D.C., Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

The company recently completed an expansion of its franchise territory to parts of Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana. The nation’s largest independent Coca-Coca bottler now has about 8,500 employees because of the expansions, up from about 6,500 nationally, according to the company. The bottler added about 200 locally and now has about 2,000 Charlotte-based employees, according to the company.

If an agreement is reached, the new expansions will begin this fall, according to the bottler.

“We are very excited about this opportunity to continue to grow our company into additional markets,” Chairman and CEO Frank Harrison said in a statement. “We ... look forward to serving even more customers, consumers and communities in the geography covered by this letter of intent. With these expansion territories, we are positioned for long-term success and strategic influence in the U.S. Coca-Cola system.”

This story was originally published May 13, 2015 at 5:54 PM with the headline "Coca-Cola Bottling to enter new markets in 10 states and Washington, DC."