Whiplash Opens 2nd Fulfillment Center in Columbus

1675 Beggrow St. Image courtesy of Whiplash

Whiplash, a City of Industry, Calif.,-based provider of omnichannel logistics services, has opened its second fulfillment center in the Columbus, Ohio, industrial market, as it responds to e-commerce growth fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The new, 261,400-square-foot facility is located at 1675 Beggrow St., in Lockbourne, Ohio, in the heart of the Columbus industrial zone. Company officials stated the addition of the second Columbus-area property will help support the robust expansion of fulfillment capabilities in the region, including value-added services such as kitting, specialized packaging and returns processing.

The location enables Whiplash to provide competitive two-day ground coverage to major metropolitan areas. A multi-client operation, the new asset will offer another strategic gateway to the Northeast, Southeast and Midwest for more seamless, end-to-end fulfillment.

Whiplash noted continuing demands of the pandemic have also necessitated more warehouse space to keep workers socially distanced and safe as well as to manage the peaks in e-commerce demand that have become the ‘new normal.’

Company growth

The Columbus facility is the first addition of 2021 but continues the company’s expansion within the past year, including two new omnichannel distribution centers in the Seattle and Savannah, Ga., markets. All are located near major transportation hubs and gateways for reduced transit times and lower shipping costs designed to meet escalating demands for the company’s wrapround 3PL services and advanced omnichannel fulfillment.

The acquisition also comes one month after the company, previously known as Port Logistics Group, rebranded as Whiplash. The rebranding followed Port Logistic Group’s April 2019 acquisition of Whiplash Merchandising Inc. and its evolution from port-centered logistics management to streamlined direct-to-consumer (D2C) and retail omnichannel fulfillment services.

The new 360,000-square-foot distribution center in Savannah was announced in early December and was designed to service e-commerce and retail clients requiring D2C fulfillment and store deliveries. The new property, located close to the port of Savannah and major highways, supplements an existing Port Logistics Group facility located about 5 miles away, which had opened in 2016.

In late November, the company, still operating as Port Logistics Group, had opened a newly built 265,000-square-foot facility in Sumner, Wash., outside Seattle. The warehouse was designed to provide pick and pack operations for D2C fulfillment and store deliveries for a growing number of emerging brands and leading retailers. The property is located between the Seattle and Tacoma, Wash., ports.

Whiplash now operates 18 distribution centers with more than 6.5 million square feet of space across the U.S. The company is planning further expansion in the Savannah market and is also considering additional Midwest locations but has not made any final decisions.

In addition to Columbus, Savannah and the Seattle/Tacoma markets, the current U.S. lineup includes:

• New York/New Jersey—four facilities, 1.1 million square feet;
• Los Angeles/Long Beach, Calif.—eight facilities, 3.6 million square feet;
• Jacksonville, Fla.,—one facility, 283,000 square feet.

Whiplash also has two partner network properties outside the U.S.—Saint-Laurent in Quebec, Canada, with a 25,000-square-foot partner facility, and Peterborough, U.K., with a 50,000-square-foot partner facility.