Drugstore chain Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. has begun construction on an $82 million expansion of an Ohio distribution center that is targeted for completion in summer 2019.
The DC in Perrysburg Township, Ohio—about 10 miles south of Toledo—is adding a 380,000-square-foot expansion onto a 650,000-square-foot facility, according to Contegra, the Edwardsville, Ill.-based general contractor in charge of the job.
Contegra, which is tasked with constructing the addition without disrupting operations in the existing building, said the expanded facility will feature 40-foot and 50-foot clear height warehouse spaces and 40 new dock doors. Material handling equipment will include an automated storage and receiving system (AS/RS), pick modules, static racking, and conveyors, the contractor said.
The completed building will span just over 1 million square feet and add 350 jobs to the 680 workers currently employed there, according to Contegra.
Deerfield, Ill.-based Walgreens will use the site to continue supplying its existing stores as well as the 1,900 stores it acquired from rival pharmacy chain Rite Aid in a $4.4 billion deal in February. As of June, Walgreens said it operates some 9,800 drugstores with a presence in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as the company's omnichannel business, Walgreens.com.
