The "Big Basket" as it's known by many in Central Ohio will soon be empty.
Longaberger company employees will leave the iconic basket shaped building in Newark and head to its plant in Frazeysburg.
“Everybody knows where it's at,” Newark resident AJ Mooney said. “It's been around as long as I can remember.”
It's a unique treasure that's been a staple in Newark since 1997, a building that has people who aren't from the area, wondering what it is.
“When I moved down here, I wondered what it was until somebody told me it was Longaberger basket,” Trace Van Niel said.
"The Big Basket" is hard to miss if you're driving through town.
“It's definitely different,” Van Niel said.
And it's right next door to Van Niel's Family Dollar.
“The drivers, when they bring their deliveries, they ask, what's with basket, and I tell them it's a Longaberger basket,” Van Niel said.
But, that basket is about to be emptied.
In a company letter to employees Friday, John Rochon Junior, Longaberger's CEO wrote, "I listened to the plea of many of you to move everyone at the Home Office under one roof. I agreed that it was the smart thing to do."
According to our media partners at the Columbus Dispatch, Longaberger has been behind in paying back taxes on the building.
The Licking County auditor told the Columbus Dispatch late last year, the company owed nearly $374,000 in taxes.
The company reassures though, the building isn't going anywhere.
A company spokesperson based at Longaberger’s Dallas headquarters tells 10TV, “The Big Basket will always be an icon in the community and a living advertisement for Longaberger.”
Now the question is, what’s going to happen to the building when everyone moves out?
“Unless you're some type of company that wants to be different and say hey, my business or headquarters is based out of the basket,” Van Niel said.
The company is in the middle of discussions about the buildings future.
Employees will move to office space at the manufacturing plant in Frazeysburg in the coming weeks.