MINNESOTA (From news reports) -- Quad recently announced plans to close its Shakopee, Minn., retail advertising insert printing facility on or about Sept. 14, impacting approximately 140 employees. Work performed there will be consolidated into other Quad locations.

Quad had acquired the nearly 170,000-sq.-ft. printing plant -- which it now intends to sell -- as part of its purchase of Vertis Communications in January 2013. Prior to Vertis, the Shakopee operation has had multiple owners, including American Color and Gannett Publishing since first opening in the early 1980s as Shakopee Valley Printing, a then-privately owned and operated business by the Ken Theis family.

According to a press release issued by Quad to local Twin Cities-area media, "the decision is part of the company's ongoing strategy to streamline operations and create efficiencies across its U.S. manufacturing platform and help print remain an economically feasible alternative to digital channels.