PHOENIX — After almost 100 years of being printed in the Valley, the Arizona Republic will now be printed in another state.
The move will cost more than 100 people their jobs.
Gannett, the parent company of the Arizona Republic, announced Tuesday that the newspaper’s printing facility in Deer Valley will close in October. Printing for the newspaper will then be moved to Las Vegas.
The Republic said the move will allow the newspaper to free up finances to allow for more investment in journalistic enterprises.
“Where our newspaper is printed does not impact our ability to deliver outstanding journalism,” Gannett Chief Communications and Brand Officer Lark-Marie Antón said in a statement. “The Arizona Republic will continue to provide readers with quality, local content that matters most to them, and to connect our valued advertising partners with the customers they want to reach.”
The Deer Valley facility also printed the Arizona Daily Star (Tucson), the Arizona Daily Sun (Flagstaff), New York Times, USA Today and other newspapers delivered in Arizona, New Mexico and California. All of those publications will also see their printing moved to Las Vegas.
Printing for three California publications, the Desert Sun (Palm Springs), Ventura County Star and Victorville Daily Press will be moved to Riverside, California.
The north Phoenix plant will officially close on Oct. 5.
Layoffs coming after Arizona Republic announces move of printing facility
Due to the facility closing, 117 full- and part-time employees will be laid off. All of them will receive severance packages, the newspaper reported.
A small group of employees will be kept on staff after the closure to help move equipment and clean the facility.
This follows a similar move made by Gannett, as the Detroit Free Press announced in January that it would shut down its printing facility in August and move the printing of more than 30 newspapers to other plants.
Where has the Arizona Republic been printed?
The Republic was first printed in downtown Phoenix in the 1940s, according to an article from dtphx.org.
It remained in that facility until the mid-1990s, when the Deer Valley facility opened and the newspaper moved across the street to its current office at the corner of Second and Van Buren streets.
In 2023, Gannett sold the Deer Valley facility, which is located near 19th Avenue and Williams Drive, for $38 million, but continued to lease it and print out of it.
Gannett, which is headquartered in New York City, has facilities and newsrooms around the nation that occupy about 5.3 million square feet. About 3.9 million of that is leased, according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
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