POTTSVILLE, Pa. – Wegmans Food Markets has started shipping fresh and frozen foods out of an almost 500,000-square-foot retail service center, the third and final warehouse it will operate from this location, as well as the largest, according to Mary Ellen Burris, the chain’s senior vice president, consumer affairs.
The new facility employs more than 200 new employees, bringing the total number of people in the distribution complex to 529, Burris wrote Monday in her blog on wegmans.com.
With 103 loading docks for receiving and shipping, the facility handles meat, cheese, deli items, dairy and a wide range of frozen items, including meat, ice, baked goods, seafood, ice cream and prepared food items.
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“It has five temperature zones to keep refrigerated and frozen foods in peak condition,” she wrote. “A case of Wegmans Greek yogurt may arrive from the supplier in the morning and head out on a truck for stores just an hour or two later."
All three facilities here use hydrogen fuel cells, instead of conventional batteries, to power up to 150 pieces of equipment such as pallet jacks, she noted.
Wegmans, Rochester, N.Y., opened its first facility here in 2004, responding to its market growth in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and northern Virginia, where the 79-store chain has located most of its 25 new stores over the past decade.