Farmer Jack Grows New Distribution Center

LIVONIA, MI-A major grocery store chain has moved its perishable distribution operations from a 40-year-old center in Detroit to a new 362,000-sf facility in Livonia. Farmer Jack of Detroit has expanded its operations to the new $43-million building, allowing more efficient processing of perishable goods, says Tom Litzler, vice president of development.

“We built the new facility for a lot of reasons,” he tells GlobeSt.com. “It was too old, and was actually a collection of smaller buildings. We were more or less at capacity. It was also too low, the new facility has higher ceilings in which we can place more cubes (shipments).”

The new building on Plymouth Road is three times higher than the previous 360,000-sf buildings on Burt Road in Detroit. The expansion makes moving boxes easier, he says.