Warehouse

The latest planned fulfillment center for Amazon.com will have a big impact on operations in the South.   The e-tail giant will open a new 600,000-sq.-ft. facility in Braselton, Georgia. When opened, it will create more than 500 new full-time jobs. Amazon currently has more than 1,500 full-time employees at its existing facilities in the state.   Employees at the Braselton center will pick, pack and ship large items for customers like household décor items, sporting equipment and gardening tools.

Tradepoint Atlantic, a 3,100-acre industrial hub now taking shape in Baltimore Harbor, this week unveiled plans for a 130-acre, mixed-use retail park on the former site of the nation’s largest steelmaking facility.   FedEx has signed a lease for a 300,000 sq.-ft. distribution facility and Harley-Davidson will move its training facility to the site, which offers 3,000 ft. of frontage on I-695 and exposure to 43,000 households in the surrounding area.  

Amazon is lending its considerable logistics expertise to a major food bank in New Jersey.

The Internet giant sent three logistics experts to tour the Community FoodBank’s 285,000-sq.-ft. warehouse in Hillside, New Jersey, and suggested ways the agency can run more efficiently, NJ Advance Media reported.

Photo: Dollar General executives and local leaders cut the ribbon to celebrate the grand opening celebration of the company's new San Antonio Distribution Center. (L to R, Steve Sunderland; Wayne Peacock, Chairman, San Antonio Economic Development Foundation; Bexar County Judge, Nelson Wolff; Mike Kindy; Mario Tort; Todd Vasos, Dollar General CEO; Jeff Owen; Alan Warrick, San Antonio City Council; Jeff Owen; Bob Ravener; Jim Thorpe)

Drones are getting a lot of attention as a means of delivering products to customers. However, Walmart is reportedly testing the applicability of drones a little further back in the supply chain.

Amazon.com shoppers in the Midwest may be able to get a variety of goods a little quicker in the near future.

The e-tail giant plans to open two fulfillment centers in Edwardsville, Illinois, and create more than 1,000 full-time jobs between the facilities when they open. Amazon has an existing Illinois fulfillment center in Joliet where it currently employs 1,500 full-time employees, and also recently announced it will open a second Joliet facility that will create another 2,000 full-time jobs.

It’s been a long time, but Rite Aid Corp. is opening a new distribution center.

Located in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the facility is the company’s first new distribution center in 16 years. Rite Aid is currently awaiting regulatory approval for a proposed $17.2 billion merger with Walgreens Boots Alliance.

Amazon.com Inc. is supporting continued growth in California with fulfillment centers launching in the cities of Tracy and Eastvale.