Rite Aid to build regional DC in S.C.

Distribution center is part of Rite Aid’s supply chain redesign.    Rite Aid Corp. plans to build a 900,000-square foot distribution center in Spartanburg, S.C. that will supply about 1,000 stores in the southeastern United States. It is the company’s first new distribution facility in 15 years.
   After a comprehensive review of its supply chain network, Rite Aid said last April it would consolidate three existing DCs in Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Charlotte, N.C.; and Poca, W. Va., into one new facility as part of an effort to improve operating efficiency. 
   The drug store chain, based in Camp Hill, Pa., plans to invest $90 million in the facility, which is located along the I-85 corridor and will employ almost 600 people when it becomes fully operational. The DC is expected to open in 2016.
   The upstate location is positioned well to serve markets such as Charlotte, Charleston and Atlanta. It is also near the South Carolina Port Authority’s inland port in Greer, where international containers can be transferred between trucks and Norfolk Southern trains that run to the Port of Charleston.
   The state of South Carolina offered the company incentives to locate in Spartanburg, including job development credits and a $520,000 grant for infrastructure support.