JONESVILLE — The more than 100 employees of the Disney Store Distribution Center in Jonesville have been notified their facility will be consolidated with another by next year.

DisneyStore.com Senior VP of Global E-Commerce Edward Kummer and the Jonesville facility manager made the announcement Thursday morning.

“DisneyStore.com has made the decision to consolidate the Jonesville, South Carolina, distribution center into another Disney distribution center in Memphis, Tennessee, to serve both Disney Store and DisneyStore.com,” Kummer said in a prepared statement.

Kummer told The Union Daily Times on Thursday afternoon DisneyStore.com only recently made the decision to consolidate the Jonesville operations with those in Memphis. Executives have been discussing the move for some time.

The decision was made for several reasons, including efficiency and customer service.

“We’re always looking at ways to optimize our operations,” Kummer said, adding as the corporation has evaluated its operations recently it came to the decision this move was needed.

“And, ultimately, we do everything we can to better serve our guests,” he said.

The Jonesville facility employs approximately 130 people.

“During the transition, select team members from the Jonesville distribution center may be offered the opportunity to relocate to Memphis,” Kummer said, but added Thursday afternoon the company does not yet know how many.

But with consolidation comes the inevitable loss of employees.

“Obviously this wasn’t an easy decision,” Kummer said. “But we really want to ensure all the employees we will make every effort to make the transition as smooth as possible.”

DisneyStore.com just began its assessment process and will determine the best way to move forward with consolidation. Kummer said over the course of the next year that process will continue with consolidation of operations to the Memphis facility completed by July 2011.

He said the corporation values all of the Jonesville facility employees and reiterated it will do everything possible to make the transition process as seamless and uneventful as it can.

No further details were available Thursday afternoon. Kummer stressed the consolidation process has only just begun and wants the employees and community to know how much it values the time it has been in Jonesville and the people who work at the facility.

“DisneyStore.com has been a proud employer to members of the Jonesville community since 1997 and we thank the employees for their years of service,” Kummer said.