Bass Pro Distribution Center Ramps Up Operation

By Linda S. Morris, The Macon Telegraph, Ga.

Mar. 31–The first trucks are being unloaded this week at the new Bass Pro Shops distribution center, 14 months after the company announced that it would build the 450,000-square-foot facility in north Bibb County.

"Our strategy is to start out real slow," said Ernie Reed, the Bibb County distribution center manager. "By the end of April, we will have mastered the system, and all the employees will have a good understanding of what the requirements are."

About 30 people have started working at the facility, and 40 more are expected to begin by mid-April, he said. More than 250 people will be hired for the distribution center when it is fully operational.

This week, workers were not only testing the conveyor systems, but also stocking the shelves for future distribution.

Bass Pro is investing more than $45 million in its distribution center and retail store, being built off Bass and New Forsyth roads near Interstate 75.

Work on the 130,000-square-foot retail center has begun, and it is expected to be completed by the end of October, Reed said.

This is the company’s first distribution center outside its Springfield, Mo., headquarters. It will service Bass Pro stores in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia. In Georgia, the company has stores in Atlanta and Savannah.

The Bibb County facility, with a total of 60 dock doors, is receiving up to six trucks a day for its outbound loads, Reed said. Containers from these incoming trucks are opened, and the items are redistributed to selected stores. For example, a box of 20 shirts would be opened and distributed to different stores.

"We don’t have enough inventory to service our stores right now," Reed said.

On the other side of the mammoth facility, about two trucks a day are coming in bringing items that are put on the shelves in order to build up inventory.

"That will slowly increase on a weekly basis," he said. "I think by the first of May, we will start cranking up the volume — coming in and going out."

Thursday, items such as fish fryers, shooting clays, camp showers and toilet enclosures and a pop-up hunting blind moved smoothly around the conveyor systems that snake throughout the space. The conveyor system has "photo eyes" about 18 inches apart that help direct items around the facility by reading the bar codes on the boxes.

"This conveyor will do close to 200 cartons a minute," Reed said.

Other items, such as boxes of fishing poles, were moved by fork lift. Some merchandise had been stacked on some of the more than 50 shelving units that soared up to the top of the 33-foot ceiling.

A special type of forklift, called a Tarrant truck, is guided by a wire embedded in the concrete floor once the forklift moves between the shelving units.

"They can let go of the wheel," Reed said. "It cuts down on a lot of damage."

Pat Topping, senior vice president of the Macon Economic Development Commission, said the distribution center has been a collaborative effort.

"This has been just a good example of this community coming together to make something positive happen," Topping said. "The (Macon-Bibb County) Industrial Authority was the developer of the project that worked with Bass Pro Shops and the construction company to get it built. The county made a major statement by financing it."

Construction was delayed several times because of "design changes, soil challenges we had and putting in the infrastructure," he said. "But every time there was a rock in the road, everybody got together and pushed it out and kept on going."

The Bass Pro complex will be the anchor for a 400,000-square foot retail center known as Market Place at Bass, which will be developed by Fickling & Co. real estate firm. The entire complex, including Bass Pro and other shops, restaurants and hotels, is expected to generate about 1,000 jobs.

To contact writer Linda S. Morris, call 744-4223 or e-mail lmorris@macontel.com [mailto:lmorris@macontel.com].

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Macon Telegraph, Ga.

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