Warehouse

Seattle -- Amazon said it is hiring more than 2,500 full-time workers at order-fulfillment centers across the country.

"Today, we're excited to announce 2,500 full-time jobs, bringing new employment opportunities to local communities across the country," said Mike Roth, Amazon’s VP of North America operations, in a company statement.

Amazon plans to fill more than 2,500 new full-time jobs across its growing U.S. fulfillment network. Median pay inside Amazon fulfillment centers is 30% higher than traditional retail jobs, the company said, although it stopped short of disclosing the actual median pay rate for the positions it intends to fill.

Washington, D.C. -- Import volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to drop 8.4% in February from the same time last year as the shipping cycle reaches its slowest month of the year, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

Atlanta -- The Home Depot announced the opening of its new direct fulfillment center, in Locust Grove, Ga. It is the first of three such facilities the company will open across the United States over the next two years, adding more than three million square feet and approximately 1,000 jobs to its supply chain.

Hingham, Mass. -- Building #19, the New England closeout retailer which shut its doors after declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2013, has returned as The Rug Dept. The company opened its first Rug Dept. store in the town of Norwood, Mass. on Jan. 26.

Seattle — Nordstrom has broken ground on a fulfillment center at Conewago Industrial Park in Elizabethtown, Pa. It will be the company’s third fulfillment center. The 672,000-sq.-ft. building, with a 470,000-sq.-ft. mezzanine, is scheduled to open in summer 2015.

In its first three years, the new center will create nearly 400 full-time positions and additional opportunities for part-time and seasonal jobs. Looking ahead, Nordstrom expects to increase staffing to 700 full-time positions or more.

Seattle – Nordstrom plans to open its third fulfillment center at Conewago Industrial Park in Elizabethtown, Pa. Work has begun on the approximately 672,000-sq.-ft. building, with an additional 470,000-square foot mezzanine, which is scheduled to open in summer 2015, and the company is taking bids.

Seattle – Technicians working at an Amazon.com fulfillment center in Middletown, Del., have reportedly rejected a bid to unionize from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM). According to Reuters, a group of 27 maintenance and repair technicians voted against joining the IAM, 21-6.