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ground breakers: who's building a new DC?

  • DHL Global Forwarding has expanded operations in Atlanta and Salt Lake City. In Atlanta, the DHL division is combining its operations by moving into a 220,000-squarefoot facility adjacent to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The facility will serve as its southeast U.S. gateway for international freight and ocean services and as the domestic center for its heavy freight network.

    In Salt Lake City, DHL Global Forwarding has relocated into a larger facility that includes 35,000 square feet of warehouse space plus offices. The new facility, which is located near the airport, houses the company's airfreight, ocean freight, and customs-house brokerage operations. DHL will also offer warehousing and distribution services from the site.
  • Payless ShoeSource has announced plans to build a 600,000-square-foot distribution center in Brookville, Ohio—about 15 miles west of Dayton. The new facility, which will service 2,900 stores east of the Rocky Mountains, is expected to create 300 jobs.
  • Also coming to Ohio is a new distribution facility for Avon Products. The building will be located in the Eastpoint Business Park in Zanesville and is expected to be part of a $117 million investment by Avon. It will employ about 500 workers. When the new facility opens, Avon will close DCs in Delaware and Illinois.
  • South Carolina's Port of Charleston has broken ground on a new container terminal at the site of a former Navy base. The 280-acre terminal will be completed in phases over the next 20 years and will accommodate three additional ships along its 3,510-foot dock. The new complex will increase capacity at the Port of Charleston by 50 percent.
  • Walgreens has opened a $175 million distribution center in Anderson, S.C., that will service 700 stores in the Southeast. The company has made a special effort to hire the disabled at this facility; 42 percent of workers at the site have a physical or cognitive disability.
  • FedEx Freight Canada has opened a new facility in Toronto that serves two purposes. Part of the building is a 48-door service center, while the other portion is the company's new national headquarters. FedEx Freight Canada provides less-than-truckload services throughout Canada and across the U.S. border.
  • McLane Suneast, a distributor of grocery and food-service products, is expanding its DC near Orlando, Fla. Budgeted at $12 million, this expansion is the fifth addition to the building since it opened in 1985. When the 100,000square-foot project is completed, the facility will occupy 600,000 square feet of space.

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