MIDDLETOWN, PA (BRAIN)—Quality Bicycle Products began shipping from its new warehouse in Middletown, Pennsylvania, Dec. 1, hitting its anticipated deadline. The 125,000-square-foot facility, coined Q-East, is a leased warehouse and employs 41 people.
Spokesman Will Annett said QBP expects to build a new LEED-certified building in the future, but no formal plans are in place.
Along with its two other distribution centers in Bloomington, Minnesota (Q-Central) and Ogden, Utah (Q-West), ground shipments will now reach 95 percent of the company's dealers in one to two days.
Annett said the company decided to locate its third warehouse in Middletown, a suburb of Harrisburg, because of proximity to key ports, air, highway and rail corridors. Ground shipments to shops in major cities like New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore will reach them in a day.
Like the Ogden warehouse, Q-East emphasizes a cart-picking model over conveyor belts. It stocks more than 17,000 SKUs, Annett said.
Shipping service is rolling out in waves. The first shipments began going out to dealers in Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, New York and eastern Ohio. By Dec. 8, the facility will begin shipping to Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, western Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
Annett said Midwestern and Western dealers will be able to order from Q-East early next year.
About 100 East Coast dealers attended a small opening celebration for the new facility in October in Harrisburg.
This past summer, QBP held a grand opening for its Q-West facility, a LEED-gold certified building, which began shipping products in January.
—Lynette Carpiet
lcarpiet@bicycleretailer.com
