Lowe's is expanding its warehousing capability

After opening a massive 1.2 million sqft. (111,500 sqm) warehouse in the Shippensburg, Pennsylvania area last year, Lowe's will open a 1.1 million sqft. (102,000 sqm) warehouse in the area next year. The new warehouse for Lowe's is part of a USD1.7 billion investment to expand its distribution network by 2023. The warehouse will be used as a direct fulfilment centre that Lowe's says will help speed up its deliveries to customers in the northeast. Operations at the new centre are expected to begin next northern spring, and Lowe's says it will allow the company to reach more customers within two days. "Providing customers more ways to shop has never been more important," a Lowe's spokesperson says in a statement. "As we continue to make progress in our supply chain transformation, we remain focused on serving customers how they want to be served in this new era. To provide faster e-commerce shipping options direct to customers, we plan to open our third direct fulfilment centre in the first quarter of 2021 in Shippensburg. This new facility will allow us to reach more customers with two-day shipping." Lowe's announced in August that over the next 18 months, the company plans to open 50 cross-dock delivery terminals, seven bulk distribution centres and four e-commerce fulfilment centres, and said the goal is to provide more same-day and next-day service offerings and enable faster e-commerce shipping across the country. The company opened its first direct fulfilment centre in 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee and another direct facility last month in Mira Loma, California.