Bucking recessionary trends, a grocery distribution warehouse managed in Roanoke County by Atlas Logistics needs 40 to 50 new hires.

But the work, which can require lifting up to 80 pounds and rotation periods working in cold storage areas, does not suit everyone.

So even with an unemployment rate in the Roanoke Valley of 7.3 percent, the company is making a push to fill jobs to help it meet increased demand for grocery shipping.

Steve Chambers, general manager, said there has been a good flow of applications, but some new hires decided quickly the work is not for them. To help limit brief tenures, Atlas Logistics provides, during group interviews, a tour of the facility and a thorough description of job duties, he said.

"It's cold in the freezer area. It is a labor-intensive job," Chambers said.

The Glenvar-area facility receives and distributes foodstuffs to 126 Kroger grocery stores in five states on a 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week operating schedule. Activity there has increased, it seems, because many cash-strapped consumers have cut back on restaurant dining and upped grocery shopping, Chambers said Wednesday.

"I can't really comment a lot on Kroger's business," he said. "Typically, though, when our economy is not doing well, we think that people stay at home more to eat, which means they buy groceries."

Such adaptation can boost grocery stores' sales and increase the workload for distribution warehouses.

Atlas Logistics currently employs about 223 people at the warehouse and hopes to add 40 or 50 more, Chambers said. The company contracts with Kroger to manage distribution tasks from the 731,000-square-foot warehouse in Roanoke County. Formerly, Kroger employees managed and worked the distribution center. Kroger owns the building and all related assets at the site.

Chambers said Atlas became involved in managing and staffing the facility in 1999 or 2000.

Local 171 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union still represents warehouse workers, Chambers said.

Hourly pay starts at $10 an hour, he said. Performance-based incentives can boost the hourly wage.

In December, Atlas Logistics merged with VersaCold Logistics Services, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The combined VersaCold Atlas is a subsidiary of Eimskip, an international transportation company headquartered in Reykjavik, Iceland.