Governor Visits Inland Empire Distribution Center
The real estate maneuvers of the apparel industry have captured the interest of even Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The governor made a trip from Sacramento to Southern California’s Inland Empire to take part in the grand opening of Target Corp.’s 1.6 million-square-foot distribution center in Rialto. The center will employ about 850 workers by fall when it is fully operational, said Mitch Stover, Target’s senior vice president of distribution services.
Schwarzenegger, of course, was interested in those employment figures. Since taking office in 2003, about 600,000 jobs have been created as a result of business growth. His administration has corralled a number of companies back into California. The state’s CalBIS program was instrumental in luring Greensboro, N.C.–based VF Corp. to California; in June, it opened an 850,000-squarefoot distribution center in Visalia.
“It is government’s responsibility to create a positive business climate, and that is exactly what we’ve done,” said Schwarzenegger during Target’s ribbon-cutting event July 21. “We’ve turned our economy around, cut taxes, lowered workers’ compensation costs, and now we’re No. 1 once again. Businesses are moving back to California.”
The distribution center is Target’s largest single investment in an operating unit in the company’s 44-year history. Referring to the center’s proximity to the area’s ports, Stover said: “This approach will fulfill two different missions—one as a gateway to Asia and one as a gateway to Southern California.” In addition, he said, its workers will be making as much as $25 per hour for mechanics and close to $20 per hour for warehouse workers. Target expects to divert up to 5 percent of pretax operating income back into the local economy as a result of jobs creation.
While Target was inaugurating one center, Winston-Salem, N.C.–based Sara Lee Branded Apparel was launching another in nearby Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
The maker of Hanes, Bali, Champion and other innerwear brands has opened a 250,000-square-foot warehouse, which will handle Asian and Central American imports for the company. It is expected to begin receiving product by late August. About 150 employees have been hired. APL Logistics will manage the center.
“This is another step in our evolution to improve operating efficiencies and, more important, to reduce overall lead times and improve speed-to-market,” said Lee Woodard, vice president of global logistics for Sara Lee, which is spinning off its apparel business into an independent publicly traded unit, to be called Hanesbrands Inc., when the transaction is completed this fall.
—Robert McAllister
