BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (BRAIN) — QBP's East Coast distribution center will be moving over the upcoming holidays.
The location will shut down at day's end Dec. 26 and reopen Jan. 5 in its new permanent home near Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The company said the temporary closure will extend shipping times slightly for East Coast dealers' orders.
"(The new warehouse) will greatly expand our ability to serve independent specialty retailers on the eastern seaboard," said Dave Smith, Q-East site manager. "This warehouse means more products, more variety, and fast ground shipping." He said the building could eventually expand to 200,000 square feet with capacity for over 30,000 SKUs, and Smith anticipates more hiring as the new facility ramps up over the next few years. "In addition to more shipping staff, we're exploring adding a regional customer service call center and an accounts receivable department," he said.
The new building was built using energy efficient LEED and Energy Star methods, using recovered materials and energy saving technologies such as water efficient toilets, Digital Lumens' LED smart lighting, and SolaTubes to supplement electric light with natural sunlight. Like QBP's other buildings, it is equipped with locker rooms, showers, and bicycle day storage aimed at encouraging employees to ride to work.
QBP is now focusing on a second West Coast distribution center, set to open in Reno, Nevada, in late 2015. That warehouse will complement the company's Ogden, Utah, facility and offer all West Coast dealers fast ground shipping on a wide selection of QBP products.
