GREENCASTLE, Pa. — Staples will be relocating its Chambersburg distribution center operations 12 miles down the road to the Greencastle area and bringing its employees along.
The news finally reveals the identity of which company will be operating in the nearly completed million square foot warehouse facility in Antrim Township.
Eric Watts, project manager for the NorthPoint Development in the Antrim Commons Business Park, said Thursday morning that disclosure of the tenant was about two weeks away. He said he could not comment at this point. The business park is located off U.S. 11 at Exit 3 of Interstate 81.
However, Mark Cautela, head of communications for Massachusetts-headquartered Staples, confirmed to Herald-Mail Media later Thursday that Staples will be relocating its operations at 1500 S. Main St. in Chambersburg to the new site south of Greencastle sometime this fall.
“This move will help expand our capabilities and also allow us to be more centrally located for our existing associates, all of whom are moving with the business to Greencastle,” said Cautela.
Cautela would not comment on the size of the current facility, located just south of Chambersburg Borough. He also would not say how many employees work there. The 2018 Franklin County Industrial & Business Directory, compiled by the Franklin County Area Development Corporation, listed the Staples warehouse at 315 employees.
It was unclear Friday if the relocation of the Pennsylvania warehouse will have any effect on another Staples warehouse located near Hagerstown — the Staples Mid-Atlantic Distribution Center off of Hopewell Road. An email and phone message to a corporate spokesman were not immediately returned.
Franklin County Area Development Corporation President L. Michael Ross estimated Staples will gain several hundred thousand square feet with the move.
“It’s bigger and it will do a number of things for them,” Ross said. “It’s designed to be more operationally efficient.
“Where they are now was one of the original big boxes built about 25 years ago. There have been changes in the way product is received, how it’s moved internally, technologies needed for tracking inbound and outbound and docks have changed dramatically.”
Ross made the case that not only the building, but also its location, will be prime for Staples.
“They’re trying to maximize their operational efficiencies,” he said. “This (new building) is designed and fitted to ensure that Staples can be as operationally efficient as possible and I would also argue that the location of that park is so good from a logistics standpoint.
“They are not in a bad location now, but they are going from a good location in a lot of ways to a better location. You can’t be better than that location. It is really well done.”
With the burgeoning development in Antrim, there has been concern about the availability of labor and the prospect of a growing population that would feed a school district already at capacity of its current buildings. Ross pointed out that the Staples move within the county won’t impact either.
“It will be good for Staples,” said Ross. “It will be good for the development of the park.
“And it should not have any consequences in terms of enrollment on the school district since the employees are already there.”
Ross added that in general a relocation within the county is a win-win.
“It depends on the project and the reasons for doing it,” said Ross. “If we have companies looking at their expansion options or in the case of needing better operational efficiencies, we’re pleased that they’ve chosen to stay in Franklin County.
“The labor market is a challenge, but we don’t want to lose anybody either. The fact that Staples is in Franklin County and will stay in Franklin County, that’s a plus. A continued presence in Franklin County is all good stuff for us.”