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Gov. Nathan Deal recently announced that Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. will open an e-commerce fulfillment center in Pendergrass in Jackson County. Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. will create up to 900 jobs over four years, and invest approximately $50 million. The company plans to be operational by summer 2012.
“Georgia’s ability to attract industry-leading businesses is affirmed when we can successfully help a thriving company like Bed Bath & Beyond carry out its plans for business expansion right here in our state,” Deal said. “Bed Bath & Beyond will certainly benefit not only from our competitive business climate and workforce, but also our widely recognized logistics infrastructure that will help the company efficiently meet the distribution needs of its growing e-commerce business.”
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.’s Jackson County e-commerce fulfillment center will service the company’s expanding online sales operations. The company currently operates 29 retail stores in Georgia and has more than 1,150 stores total. Bed Bath & Beyond also plans to make considerable use of Georgia’s world-class container port facilities in Savannah.
“We appreciate all of the efforts of and collaboration between the state and local authorities in helping us to come to our decision to locate our next e-commerce fulfillment center in Pendergrass in Jackson County,” said Bill Waltzinger, Vice President of Corporate Development. “We are excited to expand our presence in Georgia and we look forward to the opportunity to create jobs in the community and serve our customers from our new facility.”
Bed Bath & Beyond will locate in an 810,000-square-foot facility in the Walnut Fork Distribution Center. Jackson County is a Georgia Certified Work Ready Community, indicating that the county’s workforce is well trained for operations such as the Bed Bath & Beyond fulfillment center, and is a key driver for economic growth in the community.
“We are proud to welcome Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. to Jackson County. What a tremendous boost for Jackson County, the surrounding region and the State of Georgia,” said Hunter Bicknell, chairman of the Jackson County Commission. “Even during these trying economic times, it is projects like this and job creation of this magnitude that we are reminded of the economic strength of our community and the State of Georgia.”
“It is only through partnerships with the State of Georgia, the Jackson County Industrial Development Authority, the Jackson County Area Chamber of Commerce and strong companies like Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. that we are able to create such great success in economic development in our community,” said Jackson County Director of Economic Development Courtney Bernardi. “We are appreciative of the company’s commitment to Jackson County and look forward to welcoming them to our business community.”
The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) partnered with the Jackson County Area Chamber of Commerce and Electric Cities of Georgia to secure this business opportunity for Georgia. Jones Lang LaSalle represented the company’s real estate search. Bed Bath & Beyond will be offered workforce training assistance from Georgia Quick Start, which would provide the company with customized training to facilitate start-up. Quick Start is Georgia’s No. 1-ranked workforce training program that has extensive experience working with state-of-the-art distribution operations as well as customer contact centers.
“Bed Bath & Beyond’s new Jackson County operation is a significant win for the company and for Georgia,” said GDEcD Commissioner Chris Cummiskey. “This company is included on a growing list of Fortune 500 companies that operate in Georgia, taking full advantage of our favorable business environment and other assets that make Georgia one of the best places nationwide for business. I am glad to see Bed Bath & Beyond expand its operations in Georgia and look forward to the company’s continued success in our state.”
About Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. and subsidiaries is a chain of retail stores, operating under the names of Bed Bath & Beyond, Christmas Tree Shops, Harmon, Harmon Face Values and buybuy BABY. In addition, the company is a partner in a joint venture which operates retail stores in Mexico under the name “Home & More.” The company sells a wide assortment of domestics merchandise and home furnishings. Domestics merchandise includes categories such as bed linens and related items, bath items and kitchen textiles. Home furnishings include categories such as kitchen and tabletop items, fine tabletop, basic housewares, general home furnishings, consumables and certain juvenile products. Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. are traded on NASDAQ under the symbol “BBBY” and are included in the Standard and Poor's 500 and Global 1200 Indices and the NASDAQ-100 Index. The company is counted among the Fortune 500 and the Forbes 2000.
