Lowe's Companies, Inc. (Mooresville, N.C.), the home improvement retailer, plans to build a new flatbed distribution center in the Port of Stockton, Calif. The company will retrofit two existing 120,000 sq.-ft. buildings, investing $16 million including land, construction and equipment. The facility will supply products to more than 40 Lowe's retail stores in northern California, Nevada and Oregon. Construction has begun and the facility is expected to begin shipping operations in the first half of 2007. The facility will initially employ 35 people.
"Our flatbed distribution centers play a vital role in the state-of-the- art distribution network that keeps Lowe's stores supplied with the products our customers need," said Mike Mabry, Lowe's executive v.p. of logistics and distribution. "Stockton's outstanding workforce, support for this project at both the local and state level, and the geographic proximity to Lowe's growing store base on the West Coast all made this location a win- win solution in helping us continue to meet our goals to better serve our customers."
The flatbed center will receive rail and truck shipments of large building materials from suppliers. Products will then be loaded as customized orders on flatbed trucks destined for Lowe's stores on the West Coast. Lowe's currently operates 13 regional flatbed centers throughout the United States.
With fiscal year 2005 sales of $43.2 billion, Lowe's is a FORTUNE 50 company that serves approximately 12 million customers a week at more than 1,350 home improvement stores in 49 states. Based in Mooresville, N.C., the 60-year-old company is the second-largest home improvement retailer in the world.
Source: Lowe's Companies, Inc.
