Coca-Cola Consolidated buys Orvis’ Roanoke warehouse for $29.7M

Orvis, a retailer with a reputation built on well-made fly fishing equipment, was founded in Manchester, Vermont, back in 1856.

While its not the site of Orvis’ headquarters, Roanoke also forged a strong relationship with the company. Orvis’ website puts it this way: “Orvis is headquartered in beautiful Southwestern Vermont with major operations in Roanoke, Virginia, and the United Kingdom.”

Operations in the Star City appear to be less than major these days.

At the end of 2025, an entity associated with North Carolina-based Coca-Cola Consolidated, the largest Coca-Cola bottler in the United States, purchased the 334,000-square-foot Orvis warehouse for about $29.7 million. City property records state “multiple owners” sold the property at 1711 Blue Hills Drive NE; the previous sale was in 1987, when Orvis Virginia bought the property from the City of Roanoke for $100,000.

“Coca-Cola Consolidated is excited about its growth in Roanoke,” the company said in a statement to Virginia Business. “As part of that growth, we’re investing in a new distribution facility that will be aligned with our other new facilities where we strive to create a campus that can accommodate warehousing, distribution, equipment services and a fleet shop for Red Classic, our trucking subsidiary.”

Employees at the current distribution center for Coca-Cola Consolidated, a 111,000-square-feet facility at 4022 Integrity Drive, will eventually move to the warehouse at the Roanoke Centre for Industry and Technology. The company’s current manufacturing center will remain downtown.

In its statement, Coca-Cola Consolidated noted that it has “agreed to lease the majority of the building back to Orvis for a period of time, but Coca-Cola Consolidated intends to begin limited operations out of part of the building at some point in the second quarter of 2026.”

No specific date has been identified for when Coca-Cola Consolidated will move all of its distribution operations to the warehouse, according to the company.

Tariff trouble

Orvis did not respond to a request for comment. However, in October 2025, Orvis told Fox News the company planned to close 31 stores and five outlets.

“Like many in retail, Orvis’ business model faced a sizable shift with the introduction of an unprecedented tariff landscape,” Orvis President Simon Perkins said in a statement to Fox News.

Perkins went on to note that for the company to “ensure a durable brand and model for decades to come, we are focusing on our core strengths and making the difficult but necessary decision to rescale the business by tightening our assortment and reducing our corporate store footprint.”

Roanoke doesn’t appear to be one of the cities losing their Orvis stores.

On Feb. 17, members of Roanoke City Council unanimously voted to continue a lease with Orvis for its prominent retail store at the Center in the Square Garage. The lease for about 3,000 square feet runs until January 31, 2027, with an option for up to four one-year renewal periods.

Orvis will pay about $1,400 monthly along with 1.25% of gross revenues from sales made in the store during the preceding calendar year.

Marc Nelson, director of economic development in Roanoke, declined a request to comment on the lease or the sale of the warehouse.

A long history

Roanoke’s relationship with Orvis began when former Gov. Gerald Baliles wooed the company to Virginia.

In 1987, at the dedication of the Roanoke mail order center, the late Leigh Perkins, then president of Orvis, presented a delighted Baliles with a four-piece fly fishing rod.

The company proceeded with caution. When moving the distribution center from Vermont to Virginia, Orvis’ leaders took care not to alienate its loyal customer base, who associated the brand with the New England country-chic lifestyle, according to a 1987 story in The Washington Post.

Accents were part of the company’s considerations for people applying to customer service roles, according to the newspaper.

“In addition to their ability to be very positive with the customer,” an Orvis vice president told The Washington Post, “it will be essential that they have good diction.”

It seemed to work out, however. By 1991, Orvis had 341 Roanoke employees, and more than 100 of them took telephone orders, according to an article in The Roanoke Times.

John Hull, president and CEO of the Roanoke Regional Partnership, acknowledged Orvis’ long history in Roanoke in a statement to Virginia Business.

“Orvis has been part of this community for a long time, and we’re grateful for that relationship,” he said. “Companies everywhere are adjusting to changing global conditions, and that’s natural as markets evolve. What’s important locally is that the facility remains active, jobs remain here, and we’re seeing new investment from Coca-Cola Consolidated. That’s a sign of a region that continues to support industry and continues to be competitive for investment.”

Coca-Cola Consolidated has about 500 employees in Roanoke, according to the company.