The Bon-Ton Stores Inc., which has joint headquarters in Milwaukee and York, Pa., today announced it will open a direct-to-consumer fulfillment center in West Jefferson, Ohio to keep up with demand for e-commerce orders.
The 743,000-square-foot facility will include automation to improve the speed of shipping operations. It is expected to fill its first orders in the spring of 2015.
Currently, Bon-Ton uses four distribution centers to fill e-commerce orders. The new fulfillment center will consolidate those e-commerce operations, eliminating some distribution center jobs and creating 139 new positions in Ohio. The company expects to ramp up employment at the fulfillment center during peak holiday shopping times. The existing distribution centers in White Hall, Pa., Rockford, Ill., Dayton, Ohio and Naperville, Ill. will continue to fill retail orders.
“In response to the rapid growth in our e-commerce business, we are taking this step to ensure extraordinary service to our customers. This new fulfillment center will permit significant expansion of our shipping capacity with improved operational efficiency,” said Brendan Hoffman, president and chief executive officer.
