By Linda Moss CoStar News
Walmart, the nation's biggest retailer, is opening four new high-tech mega-warehouses to beef up its ability to get online orders to customers faster and compete with Amazon.
The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company unveiled its plans on Friday. Its expansion stood in stark contrast to those of Amazon, one of its main competitors. The Seattle-based e-commerce giant several weeks ago sent shock waves through the commercial real estate industry when it said it was slowing down distribution center development.
Walmart said it plans to open automated, state-of-the-art fulfillment centers, totaling 6.3 million square feet, in Joliet, Illinois; Lancaster, Texas; McCordsville, Indiana; and Greencastle, Pennsylvania. The one at 3501 Brandon Road in Joliet, 45 miles from Chicago, is set to open this summer. That facility is 1.1 million square feet.
The size and opening dates for the other three, which will all facilitate next-day and two-day shipping, are:
5259 W. 500 N in McCordsville, Indiana, 20 miles northeast of Indianapolis. The 2.2 million-square-foot facility is set to open spring 2023.
2500 E. Belt Line Road in Lancaster, Texas. The 1.5 million-square-foot facility is slated to open fall 2023.
1915 Ebberts Spring Court in Greencastle, Pennsylvania. The 1.5 million-square-foot facility is set to open in 2024.
Other national retailers such as Target, Macy's and Kroger have been bolstering their distribution networks — and adding advanced automation — to facilitate same-day, next-day and two-day delivery for e-commerce orders. That's an effort to put them in the same league as Amazon, especially when it comes to delivery speed. And it is also seen as enhancing their ability to increase their growing online sales.
The size of Walmart's new fulfillment centers, each over 1 million square feet, mirrors a strategy that Amazon has taken. The online retailer has built a network of mega-warehouses across the country.
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