Last updated on July 20th, 2017 at 03:39 pm
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, Walmart officials and community leaders attended the grand opening of Walmart’s new state-of-the art e-commerce fulfillment center in Davenport on Tuesday. The campus is the sixth in the Walmart network and the first in Florida.
The 50-acre campus, located near the intersection of I-4 and Highway 27, features two buildings spanning a total of more than 2.2 million s.f., equivalent to roughly 20 football fields. It features a Pick Module—a multi-level product storage shelving system with 33 miles of shelving—and it includes dock doors that can withstand wind speeds of up to 120 miles per hour.
The campus employs more than 550 recently hired associates, and there are plans to hire at least 1,000 more associates over the next year. These associates would join the more than 107,000 in the state currently working at Walmart’s stores, clubs and distribution centers.
Scott said, “I was proud to celebrate the grand opening of Walmart’s new e-commerce fulfillment center, which is helping to create 1,500 jobs for Florida families. Walmart could have chosen to open this new fulfillment center in any location, yet they know that Florida is the best place for them to grow their business and create new jobs. By cutting taxes and creating the new $85 million Florida Job Growth Grant Fund, we will create even more opportunities for Florida families.”
The new facility is part of a vast network—Walmart distribution centers, existing e-commerce facilities, 4,500 Walmart stores and a transportation fleet—that ships packages fast and efficiently, while offering customers more choices for how they want to receive their online orders, according to the retailer.
“We’re excited to welcome Walmart’s new state-of-the-art fulfillment center campus to Polk County,” said Polk County Commission Chair Melony Bell. “Walmart has made a significant investment in our community through the more than 1,500 job opportunities created and its commitment to give back to so many deserving organizations. Walmart has long been a major employer in our community, and we’re grateful for its commitment to continued growth here.”
“The opening comes at a time of growth and innovation in e-commerce for Walmart,” the retailer says in a press release. “In the first quarter of this year, Walmart saw 63 percent growth in U.S. e-commerce sales, the majority coming from organic growth in Walmart.com. Since just the beginning of the year, Walmart.com has rolled out free two-day shipping with no membership fees, an extra discount for picking up orders in stores and the ability to easily reorder online or make store purchases within the Walmart app. Also, the recently acquired online retailer Jet.com continues to provide a strong avenue for reaching an urban, millennial customer.”
Stephen “Toby” Gray, GM of the Polk County fulfillment center campus and 23-year associate at Walmart, said, “I’m proud of the work we’re doing to keep pace with the wants and needs of our customers. Our team is the driving force behind this state-of-the-art facility, and our associates have worked hard to get us to where we are today. We’re also incredibly appreciative of the warm welcome and strong support we have received from the local community.”
The facility is part of the retailer’s 2017-18 investment in the Sunshine State totaling more than $450 million. Walmart recently announced plans for the following investments across Florida this fiscal year (Feb. 1, 2017-Jan. 31, 2018):
• Open nine new stores across the state, creating more than 800 jobs statewide in stores alone;
• Execute a multi-million-dollar capital investment plan by remodeling more than 40 locations across the state; and
• Celebrate the groundbreaking later this year for a new distribution center for perishable goods in the city of Cocoa.
