Retail giant Walmart is keeping its foot on the gas with the expansion of its national warehouse network, announcing million-square-foot DCs in both Pennsylvania and Texas within the past week.
The Bentonville, Arkansas-based corporation said Tuesday that it planned to open a 1.8 million-square foot fulfillment center in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania this spring and said Thursday that it would build a 1 million-square foot distribution center in Baytown, Texas, set for completion by fall.
The Pennsylvania facility is part of a broader Walmart initiative to add more capacity in its e-commerce supply chain. In Q4 of FY22, Walmart U.S. eCommerce cited 70% growth over the past two years.
“Unlike distribution centers, which are focused on receiving, storing, and distributing product to Walmart stores, fulfillment centers are focused on storing millions of items that are picked, packed and shipped directly to customers as soon as next-day,” the company said in a release.
The new facility will create 600 permanent supply chain jobs in the southern Pennsylvania region, adding to Walmart’s existing footprint in the state, where it operates seven DCs, 160 retail stores, and employs more than 60,000 workers.
In comparison, the Texas site will create 300 full-time jobs across multiple shifts for the Houston-area DC. Walmart’s Texas operations include 19 distribution centers, 593 retail stores, and more than 185,000 employees.
