A M King has completed design and construction of its fourth major project for Cheney Brothers, Inc. 

The 386,047-sq.-ft. refrigerator/freezer distribution facility in Florence, South Carolina includes 45 loading docks, a Cheney Express and the largest culinary kitchen the company has developed to date. 

Part of Performance Food Group, Cheney Brothers, based in Riviera Beach, Florida, was founded in 1925. In 2016, the company purchased Pate Dawson Co., acquiring distribution and processing facilities in Statesville and Greensboro, North Carolina.

Cheney Brothers’ first location in South Carolina, the Florence facility is located on nearly 50 acres in the Pee Dee Commerce City East Industrial Park — across I-95 from Buc-ee’s. The new distribution center provides means for the broadline distributor to expand its reach in the region.

“It’s simple when you partner with ‘best in class’ companies,” says Mike Turner, Cheney Brothers’ Florence facility president. “It’s been a pleasure working with A M King over the years while they have helped us grow our footprint here in the Carolinas with the best buildings in the industry. We truly appreciate their professionalism, attention to detail and the commitment to excellence throughout this project. We know A M King and they know us. Relationship matters.”

The facility includes 100,963 sq. ft. of dry storage and a 36,098-sq.-ft. dry dock; a 90,095-sq.-ft. freezer; 60,683 sq. ft. of cooler with separate rooms and temperatures for dairy/meat, flour and produce, and a 31,533-sq.-ft. cooler dock; 30,424 sq. ft. of office spaces; a 7,142-sq.-ft. Cheney Express with walk-in cooler; and a 3,364-sq.-ft. test kitchen. The project also includes space for future expansion within the facility, including a 75,305-sq.-ft. cooler-freezer; 47,856 sq. ft. of dry warehouse and a 6,620-sq.-ft. unfinished mezzanine.

The installation of a robotic forklift battery exchanger carousel --- a first for Cheney Brothers’ facilities --- improves productivity and safety.

“We were thrilled to partner with Cheney Brothers to develop a facility of this magnitude and complexity,” says A M King Vice President David Sawicki. “Our history of successful projects for CBI, along with our depth and breadth of food industry expertise, made this an ideal venture.” 

A M King’s past projects for Cheney Brothers include two major expansions at its Statesville facility, bringing the total square footage to 342,126. The projects comprised additional cold storage and dry warehouse space, a 2,000-sq.-ft. commercial culinary center, a penthouse refrigeration system, 37 new dock positions and a new receiving office.

A M King also transformed a vacant shell building in Greensboro into a state-of-the-art food processing facility for Cheney Brothers’ affiliate Southern Foods. A M King won five industry awards for the Statesville facility and Southern Foods facility projects from organizations including ABC Carolinas, Controlled Environment Building Association (CEBA) and Engineering News-Record.

A M King has a project underway for Cheney Brothers in Florida. The firm has completed design and commenced construction on a 78,000-sq.-ft., USDA-certified food processing facility in Pompano Beach. The complex project will feature dedicated spaces for meat and poultry, five loading docks, a Cheney Express and state-of-the-art test kitchen.