The Next Warehouse & Distribution Mecca?

Posted on February 26, 2013• by Wayne Kress Posted in Market Conditions, Reading the Economy, Transportation•

Over the last several weeks, I’ve been extoling the virtues of Bakersfield’s economic recovery, among the best in the nation.  Our status as the Energy Capitol of the West has fueled a lot of that, and most of us know we’re also home to world class agricultural production.  But did you know we’re also becoming a warehouse and distribution center?

Retailers Sears and Walmart have operated 1.0+ million sf distribution centers in the south San Joaquin Valley for 20 years–Sears in Delano; Walmart in Porterville.  And food producers Nestle and Frito Lay have been operating their distribution centers here in Bakersfield for nearly 30 years.  Here’s an impressive list of other companies who have more recently chosen our area for their distribution centers:

 •American Tire Distributers (176,000 sf)

 •Caterpillar (417,000 sf)

 •Dollar General (439,000 sf)

 •Famous Footwear (351,000 sf)

 •Frontend Holdings (167,000 sf)

 •Harvel Plastics (138,000 sf)

 •Hillman Fasteners (114,000 sf)

 •IKEA (1.7 million sf)

 •Pactiv (257,000 sf)

 •Performance Food Group (122,000 sf)

 •Railex (180,000 sf)

 •Target (2,025,000 sf)

 •U.S. Cold Storage (350,000 sf)

This list promises to grow, as our two local ”Logistics Parks,” Tejon Ranch Commerce Center at the the foot of the grapevine and Paramount Logistics Park in Shafter, are each now working to attract 1+ million sf requirements.

Why is this happening?  Well, did you know California’s “population center” is just five miles southwest of Shafter?  Yep, as shown on this map (the blue dot on this map shows the 2000 center; the red dot the 2010 center.  Hover your cursor over the map and click to move it around):

This means the Bakersfield area is closer to more people (otherwise known as consumers) than any other location in the state.  In fact, distributers can easily access 36+ million consumers within 250 miles of Bakersfield.  That’s an easy “one day truck turn,” meaning a truck driver can leave here, deliver their goods, and return to town in a  single work shift.  We’re also within a two-day turn of 65+ million consumers.  That’s 93% of the population of the continent’s eleven western states.  It’s also 51% of the continental population living west of the Mississippi River.

What’s more, also inside this 250-mile ring around Bakersfield are the Los Angeles / Long Beach Port Complex (highest traffic port complex in the nation, fifth highest in the world) and the Port of Oakland (fifth highest traffic port in the nation).

All this puts Bakersfield closest to both the imports and the consumers those imports seek.  We connect 82% of the west coast’s imports with 93% of western America’s consumers.  Something to think about.  Logisticians are.

http://blog.bakersfieldindustrialrealestate.com/the-next-warehouse-distribution-mecca