Walmart Opens Largest Fulfillment Center in Indiana
Walmart Inc. opened its largest fulfillment center on June 15 outside of Indianapolis. The new 2.2 million-square-foot fulfillment center is 20 miles northeast of the city, located at 5259 W 500 N. in McCordsville. This next-generation facility will enable the retailer to fulfill more orders, more quickly.
The McCordsville fulfillment center is the second of four next-generation facilities that aim to bring the powerful combination of people, technology and machine learning together to achieve faster shipping and delivery, while increasing Walmart.com order fulfillment capacity. The other three facilities include one in Joliet, Ill., which opened last fall, while the other two will be located in Greencastle, Pa., and Lancaster, Texas.
The fulfillment space of these sites is designed to expand access to the retailer’s next- or two-day shipping. Combined with the rest of Walmart’s fulfillment network, these next-generation facilities will enable the retailer to reach 95% of the U.S. population with its service. Walmart Fulfillment Services, Walmart’s end-to-end third-party fulfillment service, will also leverage the space to fulfill Marketplace items.
“The McCordsville grand opening marks a major milestone in our supply chain modernization journey,” said Karisa Sprague, SVP, fulfillment network operations at Walmart U.S. “With more customers shopping online, we’re leverage state-of-the-art technology to increase speed of delivery, all while creating tech-empowered career opportunities for our associates.”
The McCordsville fulfillment center will be home to more than 1,000 Walmart associates. The retailer is currently hiring for a variety of positions, including tech-focused jobs.
The retailer employs more than 43,000 associates in Indiana, and supports local business across the state, spending $1.1 billion with Hoosier suppliers in fiscal year 2023 and supporting 33,373 Hoosier supplier jobs.
“Indiana is proud to welcome this next-generation Walmart fulfillment center, which represents a significant investment in our industry and our people,” said Ann Lathrop, chief strategy officer at the Indiana Economic Development Corp. “Walmart has long been a good corporate partner in Indiana, and we’re excited to see their commitment grow in Hancock County.”
Walmart commemorated the McCordsville grand opening with donations of $5,000 to two local organizations: Riley Children’s Foundation and Mt. Vernon Education Foundation. In fiscal year 2022, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation contributed more than $48.8 million in cash and in-kind donations to nonprofit organizations in Indiana. Walmart serves Indiana customers at 127 retail units and online through Walmart.com.
Meanwhile, Walmart recently revealed new steps to help make delivery more sustainable by adopting measures designed to reduce the amount of packaging waste associated with online orders. It anticipates eliminating more than 2,000 tons of plastic by transitioning to paper bag mailers.
The Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart operates more than 10,500 stores and numerous e-commerce websites in 20 countries. Walmart U.S. is No. 1 on Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named it one of its Retailers of the Century.
