Wal-Mart to Keep Stores Stocked From 1.2M-SF Dist. Center

MOUNT CRAWFORD, VA-After surveying its options in Maryland and Pennsylvania, Arkansas-headquartered Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has decided to open its newest regional distribution center here. Wal-Mart is sinking $55 million into the development of the massive 1.2-million-sf project. With the creation of this new facility will come approximately 1,000 new jobs for area residents. Construction is expected to get underway next spring, and the facility is on target to be up and running in the spring of 2005.

The center will occupy a space just off I-81 within Rockingham County limits. Although Wal-Mart authorities did not respond to GlobeSt.com’s inquiries regarding the size of the land parcel, similar Wal-Mart facilities indicate that the facility could occupy a wide range of space. A $49-million, 900,000-sf distribution center in Baker County, TX sits on 22 acres, while a $60-million, 1.2-million-sf facility in the Killingly, CT area is to be built on 105 acres.