Swedish furniture brand IKEA has announced strengthening of its existing network of nine regional distribution centers in US. The furniture retailer has confirmed opening of a warehouse in Florida.
A 326,000 square feet of leased space off Allen K. Breed Highway, 28 miles from downtown Tampa in Lakeland has been finalised to house the proposed distribution centre.
The newly announced distribution centre, likely to become operational early next year, will also be responsible for parcel orders for the entire U.S. Southeast. The upcoming facility will be sixth location of the brand in Florida and is likely to give job opportunity to 200 people in the Tampa-area.
The upcoming facility would serve as a Customer Distribution Centre supporting the Tampa, Orlando, and Miami markets. The current regional distribution centers support 48 stores in US.
The fulfilment centre will focus on delivering items to customers who order products online.
“We aim to provide a higher quality experience to our customers while shopping at IKEA,” stated Lars Petersson, IKEA U.S., President, in a statement issued by the company.
DHL Supply Chain, a leader in contract logistics and a division of Deutsche Post DHL Group will operate the Lakeland distribution centre.
IKEA, included in rankings of ‘Best Companies to Work For’, operates 48 stores in the US. A total of 419 IKEA stores in 49 markets are currently operational.
