From Staff Reports

BLACK MOUNTAIN —  Ingles Markets reported on Dec. 27 that economic damages from the Sept. 27 floods from Tropical Storm Helene that wreaked havoc in Western North Carolina and adjoining areas resulted in a $35 million loss for the company in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2024.

The losses “were on the lower-end of their original estimates,” the Asheville Citizen Times noted in a Jan. 2 story.

A major loss for Ingles, based in Black Mountain with more than 200 stores in the Southeast, involved its 1.6-million-square-foot distribution warehouse (where the company headquarters is also located), which was inundated with floodwaters from the adjoining Swannanoa River. 

To that end, the ACT noted, “Employees reported that parts of the (warehouse) building had, at one point, been ‘entirely filled with mud,’ while one man who worked at the Ingles Distribution Center, Gabriel Gonzalez, 52, died Sept. 27 on the way to or from his job at the building.”

Meanwhile, in Ingles’ Dec. 27 press release, Chairman Robert P. Ingle II stated, “After Hurricane Helene impacted our communities, I am proud of how not only our associates came together, but our entire region. We are truly thankful for all the volunteers and the outpouring of support for our region.” (Three of Ingles’ stores remain closed.)

The Ingles release added, “For the quarter and year ended September 28, 2024, the company recognized an impairment loss of $30.4 million related to inventory damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Helene. 

“Additionally, the company also recognized a property and equipment impairment loss of $4.5 million for the quarter and year ended September 28, 2024.”