Home Depot to build two DCs to expand online fulfillment network
The Home Depot Inc. will build two large distribution centers in suburban Atlanta and Los Angeles as part of the
home improvement giant’s effort to expand its direct-to-customer online fulfillment business, the company’s top
supply chain executive said.
Atlanta-based Home Depot will construct a 1. 1 million-square-foot DC in Locust Grove, Ga., about 30 miles southeast of Atlanta, according to Mark Holifield, the company’s
senior vice president, supply chain. The facility, expected to
hold about 100,000 stock-keeping units, or SKUs, will open
in the first quarter of 2014, he said.
A second facility, in Perris, Calif., located about 60 miles
east of Los Angeles, will open later that year, Holifield told
the Georgia Logistics Summit in Atlanta last month. The
California location will accommodate roughly the same
number of SKUs.
The two new facilities will augment five distribution centers that support the company’s current direct fulfillment
operations, Holifield said. Home Depot customers can buy
products online and pick them up at the store, often from
the existing inventory. However, the company has limited
capabilities to ship an online order to a store and to deliver
an online order from a store to the final destination. That is
what the expanded fulfillment strategy—underpinned by
the two new DCs—is designed to address, he said.
Home Depot’s 2,256 stores in the U.S. and its territories,
Canada, and Mexico already serve as de facto distribution
centers, Holifield said. The average large Home Depot store
carries about 35,000 SKUs, he said.
Walmart Transportation has recognized 11 of its trucking
and transportation partners as Carriers of the Year. They
are Tango Transport, Heartland Express, Swift
Transportation, Hub Group, YRC Freight,
Averitt Express, FedEx Corp., Jim Palmer
Trucking, C.R. England, Barr-Nun
Transportation, and J.B. Hunt Transportation
Inc. … Crown Equipment Corp.’s RM 6000
Series reach truck has earned the Good Design
Award from The Chicago Athenaeum:
Museum of Architecture and Design and The
European Centre for Architecture Art Design
and Urban Studies. … UPS has inducted 1,283
drivers into its elite Circle of Honor, bringing
the total number of drivers who have steered
clear of accidents for 25 years or more to 6,486.
… C.R. England has recognized seven of its drivers as 2012
“Drive Life” Drivers of the Year for their service and safety
accolades
CROWN
records. They are Andy Fechner, Daniel Diaz, Jose Jovan,
Richard Cole, Preston Minter, Shaun Goss, and Daniel
Finch. … Penske Truck Leasing has announced the winners
of its 2012–2013 National Technical Challenge. Bob Shaw
and John Crawford won the two-person vehicle systems
team event, while David Bridgeman won the preventive
maintenance event. … NASSTRAC has announced the
recipients of its 2013 Carrier of the Year awards. They are
Werner Enterprises in the Truckload category; FedEx
Services in the Parcel category; and FedEx Custom Critical
in the Expedited category. The following less-than-truckload providers also received awards: ABF Freight System in
the National category; Old Dominion Freight Line in the
Multi-Regional category; New England Motor Freight in
the Regional–Northeast category; Southeastern Freight
Lines in the Regional–Southeast category; Dayton Freight
Lines in the Regional–Midwest category; and The
Dependable Companies in the Regional–West category.
