Amazon to build giant central Texas fulfillment center

New Amazon fulfillment center in Texas

Online retail logistics services giant Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) said it will start construction of a new fulfillment center in the central Texas city of Pflugerville, a suburb 18 miles northeast of the state capital, Austin.

The company plans to open the facility in 2021 and will hire about 1,000 new employees. Robotic systems will also be used to pick, pack and ship small items to customers, such as books, electronics and toys.

Amazon’s Pflugerville fulfillment center will be located off State Highway 130, a rapidly expanding business corridor in central Texas. 

The state continues to be a prime market for the company, which during the past 15 years has invested more than $10.4 billion into fulfillment center infrastructure across Texas.

“There are now over 20,000 Texan Amazonians working for us in the state, and we’re excited to be creating an additional 1,000 full-time jobs in Pflugerville,” said Alicia Boler Davis, the company’s vice president of global customer fulfillment, in a statement on Wednesday.

Neither Amazon nor the city of Pflugerville revealed the anticipated construction costs for the new facility.

While the coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on both U.S. domestic and international supply chains during the first half of the year, it has not stopped Amazon from pressing ahead with new facilities across the country.

Last week, Amazon said it will begin building an 825,000-square-foot fulfillment center in Little Rock, Arkansas, which is also expected to employ more than 1,000 people.

Number of Amazon facilities across North America as of July 2020 (Source: MWPVL International)

Supply chain consulting firm MWPVL International recently counted 576 Amazon facilities of varying types across the U.S.

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Click for more FreightWaves/American Shipper articles by Chris Gillis.