Wal-Mart Bolsters U.S. Presence with State-of-the-Art Regional Distribution Network

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). When Sam Walton opened the first Wal-Mart store in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962, he had no idea it would blossom into the retail giant it has become today. Boasting over 1,995 Wal-Mart stores, 239 Supercenters, 433 SAM's Clubs, and 276 International Stores, Wal-Mart Stores, Incorporated (NYSE: WMT) (Bentonville, Arkansas) is the leading retailer in the U.S.

To support this burgeoning retail giant, Wal-Mart has had to develop a huge distribution network. Since 1993, Wal-Mart has built or planned to build over 23 regional distribution centers throughout the US. Ranging in cost from $20 million to $70 million to construct, each distribution center incorporates the latest technology and most up-to-date practices to run as efficiently as possible.

Current plans call for new distribution centers to be built in Texas, Wisconsin, Florida, Oklahoma, and New York. Construction on these new distribution centers is scheduled to begin in either 1Q03 or 2Q03 with operations beginning in early to mid 2004. (See associated Wal-Mart Articles: Wal-Mart Plans 1.1 Million Square Foot Distribution Center in Southern California and Wal-Mart builds Eight New Distribution Centers to Support Rapid Growth) Industrialinfo.com has reported on 23 Wal-Mart Projects over the past seven years as part of its North American Industrial Database.

As the largest private employer in the world, Wal-Mart's future looks bright, especially when you consider they had the single biggest sales day in history on the day after Thanksgiving in 2001, $1.25 billion. The new distribution centers will provide the necessary support for several regions of the country and will promote company growth with new stores, hopefully pushing Wal-Mart to new heights in the years to come.