Marietta Ice Cream Plant Closing

Kroger is closing the Southern Ice Cream Specialties plant in Marietta by the end of January, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Thursday.

The facility, which makes Kroger's house-brand ice cream and other frozen treats, employs 140 people, the AJC said. The plant is at 1058 King Industrial Dr., south of Canton Road between Interstate 75 and Cobb Parkway.

Kroger will shift production to its two remaining ice cream plants, one in Colorado and the other in California.

Some of Southern Ice Cream Specialties' workers could find jobs with other Kroger operations, but the move is likely to add to the unemployment rate in Marietta and Cobb.

The jobless rate in Marietta dropped to 9.8 percent in September, according to preliminary, seasonally unadjusted figures the Georgia Department of Labor released Thursday. The rate was 9.9 percent in August and 10.1 percent in September 2010.

The pattern was the same for Cobb County, according to the state Labor Department: The unemployment rate fell to 9.5 percent in September from 9.6 percent in August and 9.8 percent in September 2010.