- The home-improvement retail chain Lowe's will invest approximately $150 million to expand its distribution network. The company just broke ground on a new regional distribution center in Lebanon, Ore., that will feature five miles of conveyor and employ 400 workers within two years. Lowe's will also expand three existing facilities in Valdosta, Ga.; Statesville, N.C.; and North Vernon, Ind. Lowe's says the new projects will allow it to supply its growing store base nationwide as well as handle additional products, such as major appliances, more efficiently.
- Lego, the well-known Danish toymaker, is closing a factory in Switzerland and five distribution centers in France, Germany and Denmark and moving all those operations to the Czech Republic. The company cited high costs in Switzerland as the main reason for transferring production and distribution to Eastern Europe. A new distribution center in Prague, scheduled to open in 2006, will be operated by DHL Solutions.
- Bombardier Aerospace has opened a new 238,000-square-foot distribution center at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. The facility will handle distribution for the company's aircraft parts and will house 120,000 SKUs. Its airport location allows fast service to planes needing immediate parts.
- Cousins Properties Inc., a real estate developer based in Atlanta, has filed plans with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs to develop 110 acres off Highway 129 in Jackson County as an industrial and distribution park. The company also plans to develop an adjacent tract as a retail center.
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