Home Depot Opens Third and Largest Direct Fulfillment Center

The Home Depot is celebrating the opening of the third of its three new Direct Fulfillment Centers (DFCs) as part of its interconnected retail strategy, extending the aisle of products available to customers.

We call these massive facilities “direct” fulfillment centers because they fulfill and ship orders directly to customers who make purchases online.

To learn more about how the new DFCs will affect the future of interconnected retail at the company, we sat down with Mark Holifield, our EVP of supply chain and product development.

How do the new DFCs benefit the customer?
The changing world of interconnected retail requires us to continue to evolve with the customer, helping them shop wherever, whenever and however they want.

As the online business grew to meet these preferences, we knew we had to be better, both for our customers and our stores. This is another part of that overall supply chain and customer service evolution.

Does The Home Depot’s investment in these facilities represent a broader strategic shift for the company?
Interconnected retail is an overarching strategy for the company where online supports the stores and the stores support online - in an interconnected fashion - all to the benefit of our customers.

These three direct fulfillment centers represent one of the largest investments we’ve made in that strategy.

As a brick and mortar retailer with more than 2,200 stores across North America, we’re already convenient for purchasing, picking up or returning a product in the store.

This investment in DFCs is a big step towards strengthening our interconnected retail capabilities and making online delivery more efficient for our operations and faster for the customer.

How fast will the DFCs ship and deliver products to customers?
We’ve strategically positioned our three DFCs across the country to deliver 90 percent of customers’ online orders of regionally stocked parcel items in two business days or less.

And we can do that using economical ground delivery service. So, the customer who orders one of these products by 5 p.m. on Monday can receive it from us by that Wednesday.

How is the Troy Township DFC different?
This newest facility is 1.6 million square feet, compared to 1.1 square feet at our Locust Grove DFC and 900,000 square feet at our Perris DFC.

Another neat thing about the Troy Township DFC is that it will house 172 fuel cells as a source for alternative energy to power our forklifts.

How many jobs do these facilities create?
With the opening of the new Troy Township DFC, the company has now added approximately 1,000 jobs to its supply chain and these communities.

In fact, this facility will eventually create 500 jobs in Wood County, Ohio alone. We get pretty excited about that aspect because it means a lot to the communities where we operate, and it’s a thrill to see so many new faces join our family and our culture.

Related: Home Depot’s Flexible Picking Processes Achieve Same-Day Order Fulfillment