The shuttering of the Los Angeles Times last production facility

Originally Published November 4, 2022

Chris Argentieri, President & COO

Dear Colleagues,

I have some difficult news to share. In 2024, we will be leaving our printing facility in downtown Los Angeles.

Affectionately known as “OLY,” the Olympic printing plant opened in 1989 and was retained by Tribune Media following the company’s emergence from bankruptcy in 2012. When the Los Angeles Times was spun off as part of Tribune Publishing in 2014, we became tenants at the plant. In 2016, a real estate developer purchased the property. We have had a long-term lease in place, but multiple factors prevent us from continuing to print at OLY, including a dramatically changed real estate market, declining volume of printing and the landlord’s intention to redevelop the property. The pandemic accelerated these trends.

We plan to maintain our printing operations there for the next year and a half. Despite the difficult news, we’re providing this advance notice to help make the transition as smooth as possible for everyone involved. We hope that manufacturing employees will continue on with us for as long as they can and will work closely with them on the transition process.

I have immense respect for the manufacturing team. Their dedication to the print products we produce, and to our readers, is humbling. Since I joined the company in 2014, I have been impressed time and time again with their resourcefulness, commitment to quality and pride in the work they do. This was especially apparent during the toughest days of the pandemic, when OLY remained fully staffed. It is an honor to work alongside them and, although this will be the end of an era, I’m grateful that our presses will keep running into 2024.

Starting in 2024, we will be working with the Southern California News Group to print our newspapers. There will be more to say as we prepare to make the transition. For today, my thoughts and admiration are with the staff at OLY.

We are part of a tradition that spans centuries, with our own history dating back to 1868 for The San Diego Union-Tribune and 1881 for the Los Angeles Times. We remain committed to giving our print newspapers the longest lives possible and continuing this tradition for our customers and communities.

Chris