Customers to benefit from faster shipping times, greater availability thanks to new Campbellsville and Lexington distribution centers
SEATTLE, May 25, 1999--PRNewswire--As part of its ongoing commitment to continually enhance service to customers, leading online retailer Amazon.com has obtained two distribution facilities located in Kentucky--one in Campbellsville and one in Lexington--that will allow the company to reduce standard shipping times to key markets in the Midwestern United States.
Amazon.com's Kentucky distribution centers will play an integral role in the company's overall global logistics strategy and are part of the company's effort to develop a significant distribution infrastructure to provide Amazon.com customers nationwide and around the world with fast, reliable shipping that comes directly from the company.
The Campbellsville and Lexington distribution centers will allow Amazon.com, the Internet's No. 1 video, No. 1 music, and No. 1 book retailer, to significantly increase the number of books, CDs, videos, and other products kept on hand for immediate shipment to customers. The existing 570,000-square-foot Campbellsville facility will be expanded to approximately 770,000 square feet this year. The Lexington facility has a capacity of 600,000 square feet.
The result of Amazon.com's leasing of the Campbellsville and Lexington facilities is that customers in such places as Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis will receive their orders much faster, thanks to greater availability, quicker processing, and shorter delivery times.
"With the addition of our Kentucky distribution centers to our supply chain network, Amazon.com continues to deepen our inventory for fast, reliable shipments by a team of dedicated Amazon.com professionals," said Jimmy Wright, Amazon.com Inc.'s chief logistics officer. "At Amazon.com, our distribution center associates are the last people to touch an order before it reaches our customers--that's why we do our own shipping. When it comes to our customers, we don't take any chances."
Both Kentucky facilities give Amazon.com distribution capability that will help the company better serve its customers. The Campbellsville facility is located in central Kentucky, approximately 90 miles south of Louisville. The current tenant, Fruit of the Loom, is transitioning its business operations out of the building. The facility will be leased by Amazon.com and is expected to begin operations by the end of the third quarter of 1999. Terms of the lease were not disclosed. The Lexington facility is being vacated by the W.T. Young Storage Company. It will be leased by Amazon.com and is expected to begin operations by the end of the third quarter of 1999. Terms of the lease were not disclosed.
Amazon.com expects its Campbellsville facility to employ 500 people within a few months of operation and as many as 1,000 within two years. The Lexington facility will employ more than 200 people within a few months of operation and as many as 500 within two years.
Campbellsville Open House
Amazon.com will have recruiters at the Campbellsville Department of Employment Services for an open house on Tuesday, June 1; Wednesday, June 2; and Thursday, June 3, to answer questions, accept résumés, and conduct prescheduled information sessions. The hours of the open house are as follows: Tuesday from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m., Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The company is accepting résumés for a variety of positions, including distribution center associates, operations managers, human resources manager, facilities manager, and area managers. In addition, the company has established a toll-free job line at (877) 975-4273 and will take applications by e-mail at camjobs@amazon.com and respond to questions via e-mail at camquestions@amazon.com.
Interested applicants are encouraged to visit the Campbellsville Department of Employment Services from May 25 to June 1 to fill out an application, learn more about the open house, and be prescreened for a scheduled information session at the open house.
Lexington Open House
Amazon.com will have recruiters at its Lexington facility for an open house on Saturday, June 5, and Sunday, June 6, to receive applications. The hours of the open house are as follows: Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The company is accepting résumés for a variety of positions, including distribution center associates, operations managers, human resources manager, facilities manager, and area managers. In addition, the company has established a toll-free job line at (877) 975-4273 and will take applications by e-mail at lexjobs@amazon.com and respond to questions via e-mail at lexquestions@amazon.com.
These are the fourth and fifth major, regionally targeted increases in Amazon.com's distribution capability. In April 1999 the company announced that it had leased a facility that will be expanded to more than 750,000 square feet in Coffeyville, Kansas. In January 1999 the company announced that it had obtained a 322,560-square-foot facility in Fernley, Nevada, outside Reno. In November 1997 the company opened a 202,000-square-foot center in New Castle, Delaware, outside Philadelphia. The company's Seattle distribution center has 93,000 square feet of space.
The Campbellsville and Lexington distribution centers will be operated by MGB, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN).
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc., the Internet's No. 1 music, No. 1 video, and No. 1 book retailer with Earth's Biggest Selection, opened its virtual doors on the World Wide Web in July 1995. Today, the Amazon.com store has expanded to offer free electronic greeting cards, online auctions, and more than 4.7 million book, music-CD, video, DVD, computer-game, and other titles, plus secure credit-card payment, personalized recommendations, streamlined ordering through 1-ClickSM technology, and hassle-free auction bidding with Bid-ClickSM.
Amazon.com operates two international Web sites: www.amazon.co.uk in the United Kingdom and www.amazon.de in Germany. Amazon.com also operates PlanetAll (www.planetall.com), a Web-based address book, calendar, and reminder service. It also operates the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), the Web's comprehensive and authoritative source of information on more than 150,000 movies and entertainment programs and 500,000 cast and crew members dating from the birth of film in 1892 to the present.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, Amazon.com's limited operating history, anticipated losses, unpredictability of future revenues, potential fluctuations in quarterly operating results, seasonality, consumer trends, competition, risks of system interruption, management of potential growth, risks related to auction services, and risks of new business areas, international expansion, business combinations, and strategic alliances. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1998 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 1999.
Amazon.com, Amazon.com Auctions, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Internet Movie Database, PlanetAll, and 1-Click are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates. All other names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.