Among the many things the pandemic has brought into sharp focus is the rising demand for online shopping and the logistical challenges posed by that demand. This is the backdrop against which Walmart announced in October plans to build a $450 million, 720-000-square-foot grocery distribution facility in Spartanburg County.
According to the company’s third-quarter earnings report released in November, ecommerce sales increased 8% in the quarter and showed strong growth in grocery sales.
In announcing the new facility in Spartanburg County, the company said the highly-automated distribution center will handle increased demand in fresh and frozen foods among the company’s 122 South Carolina retail stores.
“The world has changed…I think we’ve learned from the pandemic you can’t be offshore.”
— David Britt, Spartanburg
According to Taylor Jackson, director of SC Logistics for the South Carolina Council on Competitiveness, the Walmart move is part of a growing trend where companies are locating distribution and logistics hubs closer to the markets they serve.
Jackson also says the high level of automation the company plans to use at the facility is part of a broader trend nationally and, instead of killing jobs, actually represents opportunities for more skilled workers.
“I think this is a trend that will continue to grow,” Jackson says. “I believe South Carolina is in great position to take advantage of this trend.”
Spartanburg County councilman David Britt agrees.
Britt sees the 400 new jobs expected to come with the distribution center as among the reasons so many people are moving to the Upstate.
As one of his county’s main economic development recruiters, Britt says he has delivered the message to prospective companies that if they build in the Upstate, the area will supply the skilled workforce needed.
He adds that market shifts accelerated with the pandemic and drove home the critical importance of location and logistics.
“The pandemic changed the game forever, not only from the logistics end in manufacturing,” Britt says. “That’s why you’re seeing such a move to the Carolinas — because of the area’s logistical strengths.”
With the Upstate being within a two-day drive of 75% of the country’s population and having such key transportation infrastructure like Inland Port Greer, it makes sense for companies like Walmart and Amazon to increase the number of distribution centers in the area, says Britt.
The new Spartanburg County facility will be Walmart’s fifth distribution center in the Palmetto State. Amazon currently has three distribution/sorting centers in the state centered near population hubs: in Spartanburg, West Columbia and Ladson, near Charleston.
Britt adds that more companies equal more jobs, and more jobs attract more people. More people buy more products. It becomes something of a self-sustaining cycle.
“That’s why Walmart’s doing what they’re doing,” he says.
Other major distribution centers in the Upstate:
- Home Depot — Greenville
- Dollar General — Jonesville
- Walgreens — Williamston
- Family Dollar — Cowpens
- Walmart — Laurens
