Wal-Mart to open second fulfillment center in Fort Worth

Wal-Mart fulfillment center

Wal-Mart is preparing to open its second fulfillment center in Fort Worth, which will handle online orders and ship products to customers’ homes as well as Wal-Mart stores.

The one million square-foot facility, which will be located at 15101 N. Beach Street, is projected to open is February.

“In order to really have speed and flexibility, it allows us to have various product makes, various sizes and so forth, and being able to really present a great customer package,” general manager Kelvin Hall said.

Wal-Mart plans to add about 400 jobs at the new fulfillment center and will begin hiring begin in January.

- FWBP Digital Partners -

The new center will focus on larger orders such as furniture and large electronics, allowing the preexisting center to focus on smaller products such as clothing and household items.

In the meantime, the preexisting center is preparing for the holiday season and will add about 1,000 seasonal employees. The facility currently has 600 full-time employees and 200 part-time employees.

The starting salary to work at the Wal-Mart fulfillment center in Fort Worth is $12.50 per hour.

The first Fort Worth fulfillment center opened in 2013. Its 800,000 square-foot facility holds nonperishable items including clothing, toys, electronics and household goods.

- Advertisement -

Hall said the majority of online orders are typically household paper goods such as paper towels, but during the holiday season, most of the orders are for toys.

While Wal-Mart may compete with other online ordering sites such as Amazon.com, public affairs director Ryan Irsik said Wal-Mart has the advantage of having a physical store location where customers can choose to pick up their orders.

Wal-Mart has about 4,400 stores in the U.S.

“It’s not only customer service but also having somebody there that you can chat with about your order when you pick it up,” Irsik said. “That’s a huge advantage, rather than just talking to the mailman.”