Walmart announces new e-commerce fulfilment centres in Florida
Retailer Walmart has announced that it will be building two fulfilment centres dedicated to shipping online orders in Polk County, Florida. In an official statement issued yesterday (17 September), Florida’s Governor Rick Scott said: “Walmart will be creating 625 new jobs at their new E-Commerce facilities in Polk County.”
The Florida Governor’s official statement also quoted Brent Beabout, senior vice president of supply chain and logistics for Walmart Global ecommerce, as saying: “As we further enhance our fulfilment capabilities with more state-of-the-art e-commerce facilities, we’re selecting strategic locations that allow us to serve more customers quickly and at a lower cost.
“Walmart’s next generation fulfilment network combines new facilities like the one in Davenport, Florida, with existing distribution centres, our world-class transportation fleet and 4,500 stores to efficiently scale fast delivery to customers all across the U.S.”
Walmart selected the Majestic I-4 Distribution Center park, located near the intersection of I-4 and Highway 27 in Polk County, as the site on which to build the two new fulfilment centres.
The first facility will be just under 1 million sq. ft., will employ more than 500 associates and house smaller products, such as iPads, PS4 gaming systems, apparel, toys and more. Walmart’s second facility will be a 1.2 million sq. ft. building that will employ more than 125 associates and will house oversized items, such as large electronics, select home products and exercise equipment.
The Walmart facilities will be close to a new FedEx Ground 300,000 square foot distribution centre which due to be completed next year.
Meanwhile, Walmart also announced yesterday that it will be hiring 60,000 seasonal associates, with a starting rate of at least $9 an hour, to help out over the holiday period.
