PROVIDENCE, R.I., Feb. 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- UNFI (NYSE: UNFI)
today announced plans to optimize its distribution center network
in the Pacific Northwest. This plan includes building a new
facility and expanding another to enhance customer product
offerings, create more efficient inventory management, streamline
operations and incorporate best in class technology to deliver a
better customer experience. The optimization of the Pacific
Northwest distribution network will also help deliver meaningful
synergies contemplated in the acquisition of SUPERVALU in
October 2018.
The company has entered into a long-term lease agreement with a
developer in Centralia to
construct a 1.2 million square-foot distribution center exclusively
for UNFI on approximately 77 acres at 4002 Galvin Road in
Centralia, Washington. The
Centralia distribution center is
located in close proximity to two existing UNFI DCs in Tacoma and Portland.
UNFI will also expand its Ridgefield,
Wash. facility by 541,000 square feet (to a total of nearly
800,000 square feet) to provide capacity for its growing customer
base in the natural, organic and specialty channel. This facility
will deploy a warehouse automation solution that supports the
company's slow-moving SKU portfolio.
"The construction of Centralia
and expansion of our Ridgefield
facility represents the first significant step in our optimization
of UNFI's DC network following the acquisition of SUPERVALU,
allowing us to better serve all our customers throughout the
Pacific Northwest," said Steve
Spinner, UNFI Chairman and CEO. "These are two tremendous
facilities that, once complete, will provide a great working
environment for our associates, an improved and efficient layout
for inventory management, optimized logistics route planning, and
an ability to help us deliver on the long-term synergy goals we
outlined as a part of the SUPERVALU acquisition."
Today, UNFI operates five distribution centers in the Pacific
Northwest, a 944,000 square-foot facility in Tacoma, Wash., a 323,000 square-foot warehouse
in Auburn, Wash., 220,000
square-foot and 30,000 square-foot warehouses in Ridgefield, Wash., and a 923,000 square-foot
warehouse in Portland, Ore. Once
construction of the new Centralia DC is complete and the expansion
of the Ridgefield DC is finished, UNFI plans to close its
Tacoma, Portland and Auburn warehouses, as well as reduce its
dependency on outside storage and third-party logistics services.
Both the Centralia and
Ridgefield facilities are expected
to be fully operational in the second half of 2019 with customer
transition completed in early 2020.
ABOUT UNFI
UNFI is North
America's premier food wholesaler delivering the widest
variety of products to customer locations throughout North America, including natural product
superstores, independent retailers, conventional supermarket
chains, ecommerce retailers, and food service customers. By
providing this deeper 'full-store' selection and compelling brands
for every aisle, UNFI is uniquely positioned to deliver great food,
more choices, and fresh thinking to customers everywhere. Combined
with SUPERVALU, UNFI is the largest publicly-traded grocery
distributor in America with expected annual sales of over
$21 billion. To learn more about how
UNFI is Moving Food Forward, visit www.unfi.com.
INVESTOR CONTACT
Steve
Bloomquist
Vice President - Investor Relations
Steve.Bloomquist@supervalu.com
952-828-4144
MEDIA CONTACT
Jeff
Swanson
Vice President- Corporate Communications and Media Relations
Jeffrey.Swanson@supervalu.com
952-903-1645
View original
content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/unfi-announces-plans-to-optimize-pacific-northwest-distribution-center-network-300791220.html
SOURCE United Natural Foods, Inc.