Meridian warehouse closing, Miss. wants $3.6M back

JACKSON – (AP) Handy Hardware, a Texas-based hardware store cooperative, plans to close its 2-year-old Meridian warehouse on Dec. 31, laying off 109 workers.

Hardware.jpg”>Mississippi Development Authority spokesman Dan Turner says the state contributed a $3.6 million grant to Handy and plans to demand the money’s return. Handy CEO Ken White says he hasn’t heard from the state.

White says Handy plans to give the 460,000-square-foot warehouse back to lender Capital One Financial Corp. in exchange for wiping out its debt on the $20 million building.

State and local governments contributed at least $5 million in grants, tax breaks and loans toward the distribution center, built in 2010 along Interstate 20 on the east side of Meridian.

Handy is a 1,300-store cooperative. It built the warehouse with the aim of expanding eastward.