Thomas L. Gallagher | May 05, 2009 2:09PM EDT
Discount retailer Stein Mart this week began overhauling its nationwide distribution system. APL Logistics is helping to lead the transformation.
Jacksonville, Fla.-based Stein Mart opened the first of six new warehouses on May 4 in Dallas. APL Logistics will manage the 32,000-square foot operation – along with an Atlanta location that will open this summer – as Stein Mart reorganizes the way it supplies 280 stores in 30 states.
Under an agreement reached in January, APL Logistics will manage nearly 125,000-square feet of warehouse space for Stein Mart and handle approximately 7 million cases of clothing and accessories annually.
“We’re pleased to capture significant new business with a leading name in U.S. retailing,” said Peter Knapp, vice president of contract logistics at APL Logistics. “What’s more, we’re very excited to be part of Stein Mart’s supply chain innovation.”
Stein Mart sells women's, men's, and children's brand-name clothing along with jewelry, bed and bath linens and gifts. The retailer is scrapping its old system of vendors delivering product directly to each store. With a multi-layered sortation approach, vendors will deliver product to Stein Mart consolidation centers in Atlanta, Compton, Calif., and Secaucus, N.J. The consolidation centers will resort shipments for delivery to distribution centers in Atlanta, Dallas and Compton. At the distribution centers, merchandise will be checked to ensure it is floor ready and if not, problems will be corrected. Merchandise will then be sorted for delivery to Stein Mart stores which will be able to move the merchandise directly to their sales floors.
“We are re-engineering our supply chain from vendor to store floor to improve efficiency and to streamline the flow of products to our customers,” said Rick Schart, vice president of supply chain at Stein Mart. “We’re pleased to be working with APL Logistics on these changes because they have been able to utilize their logistics engineering capability to help us refine our network and processes.”
APL Logistics will manage the two largest warehouse centers for Stein Mart. It will manage a consolidation and store distribution operation in the Atlanta facility as well as the Dallas store distribution center.
The Atlanta distribution center, serving approximately 185 Stein Mart retail locations, will be automated. Dallas, which serves 55 stores, will be a manual operation.
Contact Thomas L. Gallagher at tgallagher@joc.com .