Unilever Announces $108M Expansion; Olive Branch Gets 25KSF HomeGoods

By Eliza Theiss, Associate Editor

The Greater Memphis Area is about to be one retail option richer, with a HomeGoods store set to open in early October in the submarket of Olive Branch. The 25,000-square-foot store is located at the Wedgewood Commons, in the area where Goodman Road and Pleasant Hill Road intersect, reported the Memphis Business Journal. The store might hire up to 60 part- and full-time employees.

HomeGoods broke into the Memphis market in 2011. Brand owner TJX Cos. Inc. has signed a significant distribution facility lease earlier this year at Chickasaw Distribution Center. As previously reported on this page, the contract entails an initial 18-month 207,024-square-foot lease, after which it grows to 414,504 square feet. The distribution facility will help TJX’s expansion in metro Memphis.

In other news, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bill Hagerty have announced that global consumer good giant Unilever will expand its Covington facility, located at 2000 Highway 51 North. The $108.7 million investment will also add 428 new full-time jobs over a four-year period, bringing the facility’s workforce just short of 1,000 employees. The investment will add 90,000 square feet of parking space, upgrade an 11,000-square-foot engine room, increase the facility’s production capacity and allow the purchase of necessary equipment for new production lines. The Covington factory produces ice cream and frozen novelty items such as Popsicle and Klondike desserts.

Image credit: Gov. Bill Haslam’s Facebook page