ETOBICOKE, Ontario (BRAIN)—Norco announced plans on Thursday to build a new eastern Canadian warehouse to support growing sales in the region.
Construction will begin next spring on the 88,000 square foot, LEED warehouse in Etobicoke, Ontario just outside Toronto. It will serve as the eastern headquarters for customer service, warranty and distribution with 35 employees. The company may hire as many as 10 additional employees after the move, which is scheduled for next fall, said John Williams, Norco’s president.
The facility will replace an existing 36,000 square foot warehouse Norco has been using for the past 30 years. The new location is strategically positioned near the Toronto airport, but still close to dealers. With 32-foot ceilings, the cubic capacity is significantly greater than the current warehouse with 22-foot ceilings.
“Our ongoing goal has always been to increase turns and not just increase storage capacity,” Williams said.
The move will support continued growth in the eastern Canadian and U.S. markets, where Norco has seen a substantial increase in business, he added. The Eastern region accounts for about half of Norco’s domestic sales.
“We believe it is very important to be as close to our customers as possible and there is a balance between too many facilities and too few and our analysis shows that two significant facilities in Canada will provide better service to our dealer network than one larger warehouse,” Williams continued. “The service levels go up exponentially the closer we are to our dealers and we also want to invest in the communities that we serve.”
The additional space will boost inventory supply available to dealers through Norco’s new online fulfillment program, Norco Sync.
Norco’s business is split about half and half between distribution and the bike brand carrying its name. Norco also stocks a western warehouse at its headquarters in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia.
