foreign retailers invest in U.S. DCs

Foreign retailers are finding U.S. soil to be fertile ground for expansion, a development that's good news for the distribution industry. As previously reported in DC VELOCITY, U.K.-based retail giant Tesco opened its first North American stores in California and Nevada late last year. The grocery chain's new 820,000-square-foot DC in Riverside, Calif., will support those stores as part of a $2 billion rollout in the United States.

But the latest example comes not from Europe, but from south of the border. FAMSA—Mexico's largest furniture, appliance, and electronics retailer—has announced that it is building a 198,000-square-foot state-of-the-art distribution center in San Antonio, Texas. The facility is expected to open in June.

The San Antonio facility will support FAMSA's expansion plans for up to 300 U.S. stores. The company currently operates 25 retail locations in the South, including eight in Texas, under the National Furniture brand. The DC will be built with 40-foot clear ceilings to allow for future expansion as the number of retail outlets increases.