SanMar (asi/84863), the largest supplier in the North American promotional products industry, is setting up a new flagship distribution center for its East Coast operations that will add 1.1 million square feet of additional capacity for housing and efficiently shipping the firm’s apparel, executives said.

The Issaquah, WA-headquartered company has leased the large space near Ashland in Hanover County, VA, which is part of the Greater Richmond area. SanMar will invest at least $50 million to establish operations at the site in what’s known as the East Coast Commerce Center. Officials said the facility will be SanMar’s largest operation.

Jeremy Lott, CEO, SanMar

“The building itself is complete and we have already started unloading inventory. Later this summer, we will begin accepting orders for full-case quantities from this location,” Shelley Williams, SanMar’s vice president of marketing, told ASI Media. “We will spend the next 12 to 18 months building out the racking and advanced material-handling systems inside the building, which means we are targeting next year to be fully operational.”

Williams said SanMar has already hired 40 employees for the site. When fully operational, the firm intends to employ up to 1,000 people at the location.

“Deep inventory has been a bedrock of our success for many years,” Williams said. “As we continue to recover from supply chain and inventory challenges, this new location is adding 1.1 million square feet of additional capacity to store deep inventory to service the needs of our customers, while still giving us additional space to grow in the future.”

The facility will also help with quick distribution. “From a logistics standpoint, we can reach a large footprint of the US within a two-day ship time, which is tremendously important to our customers,” Williams stated.

SanMar CEO Jeremy Lott, a member of Counselor’s Power 50 list of promo’s most influential people, said establishing the new facility in this area of Virginia made good business sense.

“Whenever we look at a facility, of course we’re looking at logistics and the labor market, but we’re also really looking at the community and the culture, and the people who will be working in the building,” said Lott. “When we came here, we knew right away that this is a place we wanted to be. As we met and talked with people in the area, we knew this could be a great fit for us and for our future growth. We couldn’t be more excited to be here – to fill up this building, to build our team here, and to make this a home for a really long time.”

“As we continue to recover from supply chain and inventory challenges, this new location is adding 1.1 million square feet of additional capacity to store deep inventory to service the needs of our customers.” Shelley Williams, SanMar

Virginia officials were excited to welcome SanMar.

“SanMar’s strategic decision to locate in Virginia holds real value for the company, The Port of Virginia and the Commonwealth,” said Stephen A. Edwards, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority. “The Hanover County location gives SanMar easy access to Richmond Marine Terminal, which is an important, growing, inland logistics center on I-95. The port benefits because of an increase in volume, and then the job creation and investment has benefits that reach across Virginia. We are excited about the opportunities of having SanMar as a port user and are looking forward to a very productive, long-lasting relationship.”

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Hanover County and The Port of Virginia to help bring SanMar to the East Coast Commerce Center. 

“Securing SanMar Corporation’s flagship distribution center highlights Virginia’s strategic location, strong infrastructure and workforce as critical decision factors for logistics operations,” Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin said. “Hanover County has become a regional hub for the U.S. supply chain, and we are proud that the East Coast Commerce Center’s attracted an industry leader like SanMar. We look forward to partnering with SanMar as they continue to expand in the Commonwealth.”

Family owned and operated, SanMar has eight additional distribution centers nationwide. Based on estimated 2021 North American promotional product revenue of $2.88 billion, the firm ranked first on Counselor’s most recent list of the largest suppliers in the industry.