Starting with the singing of the national anthem, followed by an employee cheer, Walmart celebrated the grand opening of its 1 million-square-foot Sam’s Club distribution center April 17 in North Jacksonville.
The $61 million facility is at 1511 Zoo Parkway, Building 300, in Imeson Park South.
Frank Herrera, director of operations for the warehouse, said the 23-acre facility is the equivalent of 17.5 football fields. He said it became fully operational in February and is staffed with 250 workers.
The center will receive and process shelf-stable items for delivery to 18 Sam’s Club locations in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina and seven clubs in Puerto Rico.
The facility also will store and sort imported goods for delivery to four distribution centers across the Southeast.
The event, attended by hundreds of workers at the facility, paid tribute to several for their length of service with the company.
Mike Wade, a 24-year associate, wielded giant scissors to cut the ribbon to conclude the grand-opening ceremony.
Before the ribbon was cut, Jacksonville Office of Economic Development Deputy Director Paul Crawford said work to bring the plant to the began just over five years ago.
“I wanted to thank Sam’s Club for recognizing Jacksonville as a leader in distribution and logistics and identifying Jacksonville as the place to come,” Crawford said.
“This is what came out of it, and we’re really happy to see Sam’s located here in this part of the city, which is really going to be an economic driver for us as we go forward in our evolution of logistics and distribution.”
Developed as Project Crystal, the Jacksonville City Council voted 17-0 in 2023 to approve a $1.5 million tax incentive for the center.
Herrera said the location 10 minutes from JaxPort helps process imported goods quickly, including bulkier items like patio sets and outdoor grills.
He said the center doesn’t use robots. Workers use forklifts to move pallets of goods.
In the past decade, multiple distribution centers have been locating in Jacksonville, including at least 11 Amazon facilities. A distribution center for international fast-fashion retailer Primark is next to the Sam’s Club facility. Also nearby is one for Sub-Zero Group Inc.
Herrera said the labor force in Jacksonville is strong.
“The community has embraced us here and what I mean by that is the amount of talent that is out there that has come in and applied here. It’s just been solid,” Herrera said. “I mean, you don’t have a high turnover,”
He said for every job opening they have up to 200 applicants.
The distribution center opens amid new U.S. tariffs, which are taxes on imported goods. The issue was not raised by speakers at the ceremony. A Walmart spokesperson referred to the comments of CEO Doug McMillon at the company’s April 9 Investment Community Meeting.
“It’s clearly a fluid environment. And while we don’t know everything that’s going to happen, of course, we do know what our priorities are, and we know what our purpose is, and we’ll be focused on keeping prices as low as we can. We’ll be focused on managing our inventory and our expenses well,” McMillon said in comments reported by Axios.
“Who knows? I think it’s so uncertain,” Herrera said of the tariffs' impact. “I don’t know.”
Local and national political leaders, including U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, were announced as attending the event, however, it was closed to the media after the ceremony ended.
As part of the grand opening, the Walmart Foundation donated $5,000 each to Keep Jacksonville Beautiful and the Police Athletic League of Jacksonville.
“We’re proud to create a new slate of jobs in our community. Each position brings a pathway for opportunity at Walmart and Sam’s Club,” Herrera said in a news release about the ceremony.
“Today’s ribbon cutting is a celebration of our commitment to our associates, our community and our future.”
Harrison French and Associates, known as HFA, of Bentonville, Arkansas, was the architect. Evans General Contractors LLC of Savannah, Georgia, is the builder.
VanTrust Real Estate LLC is the developer of Imeson Park South. It is south of Imeson Park, which totals about 2.5 million square feet and includes a 1 million-square-foot Amazon fulfillment center.
