By Jason Kreul
timeseditor@tds.net
FENNIMORE — Fennimore will be losing another longtime business, and also the familiar sight of yellow delivery trucks delivering through neighborhoods, as Yelloh, formerly Schwan’s Home Delivery, announced on Sept. 23 that the company would be ceasing all operations in November 2024.
Although the company is currently known as Yelloh, longtime area residents still refer to the company and its famous yellow trucks as Schwan’s Home Delivery.
In the “before times,” a Schwan’s driver would take home orders for meats, seafood, meals, snacks, desserts, and more and be back to deliver those orders.
According to their website, Yelloh had “set itself apart with the friendly, trusting relationships it built between customers and team members, some of which lasted for decades.”
In “current times,” a majority of the Yelloh brand orders are done via their website.
The current name was announced in March 2022, as Schwan’s announced that it was rebranding as Yelloh, a reference to the color of its trucks.
According to a press release, Yelloh, which since October 2023 has been operated by Cygnus Home Service, LLC, which is independently owned by members of the Schwan family, stated, “It’s with heavy hearts that we made the difficult decision to cease operations of Yelloh,” CEO Bernardo Santana said. “We are thankful to our many loyal customers and hard-working employees for everything they have done to support us. I am deeply grateful for our employees’ tireless and bold efforts, and our customers’ dedication. It has been our utmost pleasure and honor to serve our customers their favorite meals and frozen treats.”
The company has cited “multiple insurmountable business challenges” for the decision to cease operations, including economic and market forces, as well as changing consumer lifestyles.
Board Member Michael Ziebell, who was a 22-year veteran of the company, stated through the company’s press release, “The current Yelloh team has worked hard against external headwinds such as the nation-wide staffing challenges and crushing food supply chain disruption caused by the pandemic. These challenges, combined with changing consumer lifestyles and competitive pressures that have been building for over 20 years, made success very difficult. Digital shopping has replaced the personal, at-the-door customer interaction that was the hallmark of the company.”
The company, which was founded in Marshall, Minnesota, in 1952, also stated that they plan to wind down operations over the next two months, taking care of employees with notice and pay in accordance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.
The press release also stated that the last day products may be purchased via Yelloh trucks will be Friday, Nov. 8.
The company’s announced shut down will mean the closing of eight Wisconsin facilities and laying off of 79 employees, including the location here in Fennimore at 400 Industrial Drive.
The other seven Wisconsin locations are in Fond du Lac, Franklin, Green Bay, Prairie du Sac, River Falls, Sun Prairie, and West Salem.
According to the WARN Act, filing to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, the Fennimore location, as of the time of filing, had six employees.
An e-mail response from Yelloh’s communication and public relations stated, “You can find our company statement about our Sept. 23 announcement on the media page of Yelloh.com. Any specific information about number of employees per location can be found in the WARN Act filing in your state,” was given during attempts for further information regarding the company’s Fennimore location closing.