San Diego book firm shutting East Coast distribution center

San Diego book firm shutting East Coast distribution center    San Diego-based book distributor Advanced Marketing Services Inc. is closing its Hanover, Md., distribution center and laying off the facility's 83 employees by the end of this month.
   The closing is part of a restructuring by AMS, which filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy Dec. 29 in Wilmington, Del., company spokesman Rich Tauberman told the Baltimore Business Journal. Tauberman could not say whether the 83 employees, who pack books at the facility, would receive any severance.
   The 25-year-old AMS employs nearly 1,200 full-time personnel around the world, including the United Kingdom, Mexico, Australia and Singapore. In addition to the Hanover location, AMS operates major domestic distribution centers in Sacramento and Indianapolis, Ind. AMS ships more than 100 million books worldwide each year.