Distributor Picks Charleston, S.C., for Warehouse

A Southern California logistics company serving fulfillment companies and retailers said Thursday it will set up a $25 million distribution center near the Port of Charleston in South Carolina.

Los Angeles-based Moulton Logistics Management said the site just northwest of the port would be its first on the East Coast it would use where the company expects to create 500 jobs over the next five years.

Moulton said in a statement the facility would help the company reduce “freight costs and transit times and give the distributor better access to customers on the East Coast and to Atlantic shipping routes.

“South Carolina’s positive business environment and excellent port in Charleston will be important keys to our success on the East Coast,” Moulton Logistics head of new business development Patrick Moulton said.

The company’s main customers are direct-to-consumer retail companies, including those that sell through TV infomercials and online, but Moulton says it also counts major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target and Lowe’s as customers.