Target breaks ground for new DC to support explosive Calif. growth – new distribution center
Target Breaks Ground for New DC To Support Explosive Calif. Growth
Target has begun construction of a 481,000-square-foot distribution center to serve its largest and fastest growing market.
Situated about 19 miles northwest of here in Woodland, the $25 million-plus DC is part of an overall investment by the discounter of over $1 billion in California, said Bruce Allbright, former Target chairman, who last month was named president of parent Dayton Hudson.
The transfer of distribution operations from temporary, manual facilities both here and in Southern California to new state-of-the-art centers is expected to ease sporadic stock-outs that have plagued the Minneapolis-based chain in its West Coast expansion blitz.
Allbright, on hand at the opening of a new store here, said the new DC is designed to serve the 14 new Central Valley stores opened this month, soon-to-open San Francisco Bay Area stores, existing Nevada stores and future Pacific Northwest locations.
It will be built in two phases. The initial portion, able to support up to 50 stores, will open late next summer. The second phase will enlarge the facility to 1 million square feet with the capability of servicing 100 stores.
The new DC will utilize scanners and be able to process about 7,000 truck loads during its first full year of operation, said DC general manager Washington Hickman.
Target is currently operating out of a temporary 347,000-square-foot manual facility in Sacramento.
Target also operates warehouses in Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Little Rock, Ark., Pueblo, Colo., and Fontana, Calif., outside Los Angeles.
The Fontana center opened in August; prior to that, Target had been using a temporary facility to serve the Southern California market.
Distribution to these area stores is just now getting back to normal, after a period of stock adjustments surrounding the closing, and reformatting and reopening of the Gemco stores, said Arthur Hicks, regional manager.
Hicks, who will oversee 109 Target stores by year-end, said when Lucky closed its Gemco stores last December, surrounding Target stores were not prepared for the resulting 40 percent to 50 percent sales increase. The reopening of the former Gemcos as Targets in Southern California during the last few months actually brought stock back to a more normal and predictable level.
Photo: D-H president Bruce Allbright (center) and Target public & consumer affairs vp George Hite, at new Sacramento store.
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