Amazon plans three new fulfillment centers
Amazon.com Inc. is supporting continued growth in the West and Midwest with fulfillment centers launching in the cities of Tracy and Eastvale, California, and Joliet, Illinois.
The new West Coast facilities will increase Amazon’s California presence to nine fulfillment centers, 9 million sq. ft. of operations and approximately 14,000 full-time hourly associates. Amazon currently fulfills customer orders at its existing seven Amazon fulfillment centers in the state, located in Tracy, Patterson, Moreno Valley, Redlands, Rialto and San Bernardino. The company also operates sortation centers in San Bernadino and Newark.
Both new California facilities are approximately one million square feet in size and will each employ hundreds of full-time associates. At the Eastvale location, Amazon associates will pick, pack and ship smaller customer items, such as books, electronics and toys. At the Tracy facility, the second in the city, associates will pick, pack and ship larger customer items, such as big-screen televisions, sports equipment and patio furniture.
“We are excited to continue our rapid growth in California in order to serve customers with superfast shipping speeds and vast selection,” said Akash Chauhan, VP of Amazon’s North America operations. “Since we first broke ground in California four years ago, we have found a network of support from community leaders to statewide officials, a dedicated workforce and fantastic customers.”
In addition, Amazon plans to open its second fulfillment center in Joliet, Illinois. The company will create more than 2,000 full-time jobs at the facility in addition to the 1,500 full-time employees currently working at its existing Joliet facility.
“We have found an abundance of talent in Joliet and we are excited to bring a new fulfillment center to the city and create 2,000 great full-time jobs with benefits,” said Chauhan. “This community and the elected officials throughout the city and state have been very supportive of Amazon and we thank them for helping make this possible.”
Amazon employees at the new 700,000-sq.-ft. Joliet fulfillment center will pick, pack and ship smaller items to customers like books, toys and electronics.
Amazon reportedly operates nearly 100 fulfillment centers across the U.S. The company also recently announced it would open its sixth Texas fulfillment center in Dallas, as well as two new fulfillment centers in New Jersey, in Florence and Carteret.