Amazon Fulfillment

[Pete]

Exclusive: Amazon to bring state's first fulfillment center to airport area

In early 2017, OKCTalk was first to report that Amazon was bringing a sortation facility to SW 15th & Council.

That 300,000 square foot facility opened in October of 2017 and now the company has plans to bring Oklahoma's first fulfillment center to the Lariat Landing development just east of Will Rogers World Airport.

Fulfillment centers actually stock Amazon's most popular items and when an area gets such a facility, typical delivery times – even for Prime members – are reduced by a full day.

Plans reviewed by OKCTalk show a warehouse with a footprint of 640,000 square feet and four stories for a total area of 2,560,000 sq. ft. There will also be 1,899 parking spaces.

The facility is planned for an area just south of SW 89th and between the old Portland Avenue and the new one which was recently relocated to the east specifically for Lariat Landing.

A fulfillment center of that size typically employs 1,000 workers or more. Plans show a maximum occupancy of 2,000 people.

Amazon launched the fulfillment center concept in 1997 and started with what now seems to be a small 93,000 square foot facility near Seattle, which was largely manual.

Now, in the United States alone Amazon operates over 320 facilities as part of their fulfillment network which amounts to over 120 million square feet. Globally, the company is approaching 200 million square feet.

29 states have currently operating Amazon fulfillment centers.

Amazon will join SkyWest and Federal Express as large employers opening facilities near the airport.

[HangryHippo]

Cool. More jobs for OKC!

[Pete]

There will be big incentives paid but I don't yet know those numbers.

[Martin]

was really hoping for retail and restaurants in this area... but i'll take ~1000 jobs any day of the week.

[Pete]

Those were always meant to be further north and on the east side of New Portland.

Don't know that they have made any progress but with these types of employers coming, it will certainly help.

[bucktalk]

When combining the new FedEx warehouse facility along with Costco and now Amazon Fulfillment do you have any idea regarding possible new job creation when combining these new additions to OKC metro job force?

[FighttheGoodFight]

When reading all the comments from people who worked in these places in other states I wouldn't recommend anyone work there. It sounds like one of the worst places to work I have ever heard.

[HangryHippo]

Any idea when construction will start?

[Zuplar]

When reading all the comments from people who worked in these places in other states I wouldn't recommend anyone work there. It sounds like one of the worst places to work I have ever heard.

Yeah these aren't good jobs from what I've ever heard as well.

I'm also not excited about the location and what it does to this area. I live West of here and this area is already extremely gummed up by poor traffic planning and terrible light placement. Not to mention 104th street is in disrepair throughout the intersection here. Just getting to the Walmart on the other side is a headache. At first glance I would think this would help push development across the street, but given these jobs aren't high paying, I doubt it brings anything more than fast food, which will be a disappointment.

Sorry for negative post, I knew the fulfillment center was coming, but I had really hoped it would be up on Council in the existing warehouse district near their other facility. I get why they want to be where this where they are putting it but IMO this is a negative for the area.

[theanvil]

I agree that these jobs aren’t the greatest, but cities need these types of jobs too. We’ve been on a nice run with adding high-paying jobs from Boeing, Kratos, CACI, SkyWest, etc. Let’s not be too greedy. Lots of cities would love to have these Amazon jobs.

[5alive]

I am curious...the design of this building is less warehouse looking and more like a Sam's or a Costco...at least the front doors area. Will the public be able to go to this location and pickup or shop for an item?

[FighttheGoodFight]

I agree that these jobs aren’t the greatest, but cities need these types of jobs too. We’ve been on a nice run with adding high-paying jobs from Boeing, Kratos, CACI, SkyWest, etc. Let’s not be too greedy. Lots of cities would love to have these Amazon jobs.

You can have the jobs and ask them to treat the employees better. No one should feel like they are going to be fired if they need to use the restroom. That is disgusting.

[Rover]

When reading all the comments from people who worked in these places in other states I wouldn't recommend anyone work there. It sounds like one of the worst places to work I have ever heard.

I worked as a sorter for UPS while taking 18-21 hrs a semester at OU. It was a night job, but it paid well. I was glad to have it as it paid for school+. The job is hard, repetitive, and taxes your focus. But, if you need a job, it is far from the worst you can have.

[Rover]

Sorry for negative post, I knew the fulfillment center was coming, but I had really hoped it would be up on Council in the existing warehouse district near their other facility. I get why they want to be where this where they are putting it but IMO this is a negative for the area.

This certainly isn't a negative for the area. Lots of jobs and affordable housing nearby for workers. It is between the airport and an Interstate highway and won't interfere with neighborhood streets where people live. Looks to be a good choice of locations to me.

[catch22]

You can have the jobs and ask them to treat the employees better. No one should feel like they are going to be fired if they need to use the restroom. That is disgusting.

I did a brief job at FedEx at a sort facility and it was near slave like employment. Most people lasted about 2-3 weeks or so before they moved on. In fact, they considered “proper notice” as 3 days. They ran hiring classes continually as they expect most people to only last about that long.

They are jobs, but just because they are by a large company doesn’t necessarily mean they are good jobs. They are necessary to the macro economy, but they certainly won’t be spurring any high income type amenities in the area.

[Pete]

I suppose it's like anything else, if they can't keep employees or have trouble filing their positions they'll have to improve conditions and pay.

Given the low unemployment rate here and the large number of similar type jobs (UPS, FedEx and the massive Hobby Lobby complex just to the west) I would think they would have to adapt to these conditions otherwise no one is going to work for them.

[shawnw]

Do we know if the other amazon facility will close or if both will remain open?

[shawnw]

I also worked 4+ years at UPS in college. Unloader, loader, air dock, secondary sort. $11/hr (in the early 90s) and full medical benefits? Heck yes. Best part time job I could have possibly had in college.

[jn1780]

Do we know if the other amazon facility will close or if both will remain open?

I imagine that facility will stay open to deal specifically with sorting. This facility as well as incoming shipments from other facilities will still need to be sorted.

[Celebrator]

I wonder with a location like this ON airport property it might lead to Prime Air (drone) operations or at least Amazon Air (cargo airline ops)?

[Pete]

I imagine that facility will stay open to deal specifically with sorting. This facility as well as incoming shipments from other facilities will still need to be sorted.

Correct. The sortation center that recently opened has a completely different purpose than a fulfillment center.

[Zuplar]

This certainly isn't a negative for the area. Lots of jobs and affordable housing nearby for workers. It is between the airport and an Interstate highway and won't interfere with neighborhood streets where people live. Looks to be a good choice of locations to me.

As someone that lives in the area I still disagree with your sentiment. Sure housing further North of here is affordable, but housing to the South and West is on the higher end of the metro. The people that work here, for the most part, won't be the people that live in the area.

[SSEiYah]

These are physically demanding jobs however $12 to $14/hour full-time plus benefits is a far more livable wage than $7.25/hour part-time without benefits.

[gopokes88]

I don't know where they are going to find the people for these jobs, guess OKC is gonna have to start growing again and the entire city isn't falling apart.

[Rover]

As someone that lives in the area I still disagree with your sentiment. Sure housing further North of here is affordable, but housing to the South and West is on the higher end of the metro. The people that work here, for the most part, won't be the people that live in the area.

There is a huge swath of affordable housing to the east, all the way over to I-35