Amazon says it will build an 822,100-square-foot fulfillment center in Edgerton, KS that will be highly automated, featuring the latest in equipment and robotic technology. The project will also create more than 1,000 full-time jobs.
The announcement reflects Amazon’s desire to locate its large fulfillment centers near bigger cities with larger populations, the Kansas City Star reported.
The company said the Edgerton building won’t affect an existing Amazon “sortation center” in Lenexa, a 260,700-square-foot facility, according to the report. Amazon also has two other order-fulfillment facilities in the region that employs hundreds of workers.
Last year, Amazon closed its 915,000 square-foot warehouse in Coffeyville, KS — one of the e-tailer's older warehouses that had been built in 1999.
Amazon said at the time it was necessary to realign its national distribution network by putting distribution centers closer to large population centers.
Amazon said the new Edgerton property will benefit from “state-of-the-art technology” to help order fulfillment.
According to one report, Amazon has more than 105 fulfillment centers now in place in the U.S. and nearly 70 more outside the country. Those numbers are expected to grow dramatically.
Although Amazon did not say when construction of the center would begin, it generally takes eight to ten months for such a center to be completed.
Amazon has spent well more than $15 billion in a warehouse building spree over the past several years.
Here's a look — courtesy of the sales tax blog taxjar.com — at which states will have Amazon fulfillment center once the Edgerton, KS location is up and running.