Macy's to build fulfillment center in West Virginia

CINCINNATI - Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M - News) today announced it will build a major new fulfillment center near Martinsburg in Berkeley County, W.Va., to support the continued growth of its online business. The site is located strategically along I-81, about 80 miles northwest of Washington, D.C.

Construction on the 1.3 million-sq.-ft. facility is expected to begin in spring 2011, with operations beginning in April 2012 and order shipments beginning in summer 2012. Two sites in Berkeley County are under consideration for the final location. When fully operational, the Martinsburg fulfillment center is expected to employ approximately 1,200 full- and part-time associates year-round. In addition, another approximately 700 temporary seasonal associates are expected to be hired each year to handle a significantly higher level of online orders from customers during the holiday shopping season.

“Our Internet sales continue to grow rapidly as part of the omnichannel strategy at Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s – allowing customers to shop seamlessly in stores, online and via mobile devices in a manner that meets their needs and preferences. In the first 10 months of fiscal 2010, our online sales were up by about 29 percent compared with the same period last year. This is on top of growth of about 20 percent in 2009,” said Terry Lundgren, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Macy’s. “The new Martinsburg fulfillment center will represent a significant expansion of our online capacity, and will be used in particular to prepare and ship orders to macys.com customers in Northeast and Middle Atlantic states. This center will include the very latest material handling equipment and warehouse management systems so we can fill orders quickly and efficiently.