Walmart plots 5th high-tech fulfillment center in Stockton, California

Walmart plans to open its fifth “next-generation” fulfillment center in Stockton, California, in 2026, giving the retail giant a boost in completing orders along the West Coast, Walmart announced Thursday.

The 900,000-square-foot facility will combine skilled workers with machine-learning technology to speed shipping and delivery times, while increasing fulfillment capacity for Walmart.com orders, Walmart said. The technology doubles the storage capacity as well as the number of orders Walmart can fulfill in a day, expanding next- and two-day shipping capabilities.

Like Walmart’s other high-tech fulfillment centers, this one will make use of an “automated, high-density storage and retrieval system” that transforms what was previously a hands-on, 12-step process into just five steps.

“In response to increasing customer demand for online shopping, we are implementing technology to enhance delivery speed and accuracy for our customers, all while creating new and exciting technology-empowered career paths for our associates,” Karisa Sprague, Walmart’s SVP of fulfillment network operations, said in a statement.

It was just a year ago that Walmart opened its first “next-generation” fulfillment center, this one a 1-million-square-foot facility in Joliet, Illinois.

Related:Walmart Announces Another High-Tech Fulfillment Center

Walmart announced the creation of the high-tech fulfillment centers in June 2022, saying it intended to build four of them by 2025.

But the facilities have been so successful, a Walmart spokesperson said in an email to WGB Thursday, the retailer opted to add another.

“The facilities that have opened since the first announcement have performed incredibly well, and we’ve received positive feedback from our associates in the newly created tech-enabled roles," the retailer said. "The addition of a fifth next-generation facility in California allows us to reach a larger part of the west coast to help achieve faster shipping and delivery while increasing Walmart.com order fulfillment capacity. This facility also supports third-party sellers on Walmart Marketplace as part of our growing Walmart Fulfillment Services network.”

The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer opened the second of its new fulfillment centers in June in McCordsville, Indiana. At 2.2 million square feet, it is Walmart’s largest such facility. Local reports said it cost more than $600 million to build.

Future next-generation facilities are planned for Pennsylvania and Texas, the retailer has said.

Walmart partnered with fulfillment-solution provider Knapp to create the fulfillment centers and develop the high-density storage system.

Related:Walmart opens its 1st ‘next generation’ fulfillment center

In announcing the new centers, Walmart said they could support 75% of the U.S. population in receiving next- or two-day shipping, without considering any other Walmart infrastructure. Combined with Walmart’s full delivery network, the retailer will be able to reach 95% of U.S. residents, it said.

The Stockton facility will eventually hire more than 1,000 workers, including for a variety of tech-focused positions.

Walmart currently has eight distribution centers, four fulfillment centers and 309 retail stores in California, where it employs more than 100,000 workers.

UPDATE: This article has been updated with additional comment from Walmart.