AZ: Macy’s to Invest $35M for Expand Distribution Center, Hire 125

Macy’s, Inc. announced plans to expand its Goodyear, Arizona distribution center for online orders.

The expansion will require a capital investment of $35 million, and is expected to create 125 new full-time jobs.

The expansion project involves adding 360,000 square feet of space to the existing 600,000-square-foot facility which was opened by Macy’s in 2008.

Goodyear Mayor Georgia Lord said she was thrilled by Macy’s selection of Goodyear for the expansion.

“Macy’s has been a great corporate citizen, community partner and major employer these past five years,” added Mayor Lord. “Macy’s is one of our most critical corporate anchors. Their expansion demonstrates Goodyear is continuing to grow and we’re ready for businesses to grow with us.”

The Goodyear fulfillment center for online orders placed on Macys.com is one of three such Macy’s distribution centers. The other two are in Portland, Tennessee and Martinsburg, West Virginia.

Another fulfillment center in Cheshire, Connecticut fulfills orders placed on Bloomingdales.com. Macy’s also has a network of 20 traditional distribution centers for fulfilling orders placed by physical stores.

The online order distribution centers are much more beneficial to the community they are in because of the relatively huge number of jobs created. A lot of manpower is needed to pack and ship the vast number of single item orders, as compared to the easier job of packing and sending a limited number of large orders placed by stores.

The Goodyear fulfillment center already has 500 full time Macy’s associates, and this will go up to 625 will the creation of 125 new jobs. This count does not include seasonal jobs for the holiday season.

Macy’s has an “omni-channel strategy” for the four fulfillment centers mentioned above. These centers are capable of handling orders seamlessly for customers shopping in stores, online and via mobile devices.

“Our online fulfillment centers, as well as the 500 Macy’s stores that will be equipped to fulfill orders by the end of 2013, handle customer orders placed online, as well as ship products to customers who shop in stores that may not stock the specific product they need. Through our omnichannel strategy, we can access the total inventory of our company for every customer,” said R.B. Harrison, Macy’s, Inc.’s chief omnichannel officer.

Apart from this state-of-the-art omnichannel capability, the Macy’s distribution center in Arizona is also known for housing one of the largest solar array installations in the nation on its roof.  The 3.5 megawatt solar energy system provides 70 percent of the building’s energy needs, and offsets an annual 3,500 tons of Co2 emissions.