Candelora Statement on Edible Arrangements’ Wallingford Headquarters Relocation

Deputy House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora, who represents the town of Wallingford, released the following statement regarding Edible Arrangements’ announcing the closure of the company’s headquarters in Wallingford, CT on Tuesday, August 21^st. The company announced that its main headquarters in Wallingford is being relocated to Atlanta, GA. It will continue to maintain an office in Wallingford, but with only about 20 employees. The company has indicated that there are currently 130 workers employed at the Wallingford location. “It is devastating to hear that a company that was established in Connecticut in 1999 and has grown to over 1,300 stores in 11 countries will no longer maintain the same presence in this state. What’s worse is that people are losing their jobs, and many of those who may have an opportunity to keep them will be moving out of state. Clearly, economic advantages and disadvantages were considered when the company decided to close down existing locations in favor of a new location,” said Deputy Republican Leader Vincent Candelora. “Although this news is very disappointing, Edible Arrangements is not the first company to flee the state. Just a few short years ago, we saw Pfizer, GE, and Bristol Myers Squibb close their Connecticut headquarters as well – just to name a few. Our state must work to improve our economy if we are serious about becoming a more hospitable place for business, research and development or else we will stand to see more businesses fleeing the state. I remain hopeful that Connecticut can improve its economic situation and this past October was a good starting point – we saw a bipartisan budget passed and it was also the first time we had no tax increases in eight years,” added Candelora.