Ashley readying major facility to serve Northeast
Powell Slaughter -- Furniture Today, January 16, 2005
Arcadia, Wis. — Ashley has purchased a former Ames distribution center in Leesport, Pa., that the full-line manufacturer and importer will develop into a major distribution hub and manufacturing facility.
Ashley paid $26.8 million for the facility, a 1.2 million-square-foot, high-cube building with 146 loading docks and parking for 1,000 trailers. The location will replace a 400,000-square-foot distribution center in Monroe Township, N.J.
Operations at the new location will phase in over the next several months, said Ron Wanek, chairman of Ashley. The facility will employ about 500 people.
"We'll have 900,000 square feet of distribution space and 300,000 square feet of upholstery manufacturing under the roof," Wanek said. "The site also has 180 acres, so we'll also put in a big transportation center like the one we have in (Ecru) Mississippi."
This warehousing, logistics and manufacturing hub will increase Ashley's ability to provide its retailers and dedicated store network with faster turns on merchandise, he added.
"What we've always been about is (gross margin return on investment)," he said. "This new facility will help us increase our service to customers in the Northeast so they can move product."
Real estate companies Binswanger/CCB and Klatskin teamed up to co-broker the transaction for Ashley.
Before deciding to liquidate in 2002, Connecticut-based Ames operated 330 discount stores in mid-Atlantic states. Ames sold the Leesport property in December pursuant to the Bankrupcty Court of the Southern District of New York.
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