Ollie’s Invests $75M in Illinois Hub to Cut Trucking Miles

McNabb said the new distribution center is “less than a day’s transit to almost every store” it serves. (Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings)

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A new Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings distribution center in Illinois will save the company 1.2 million trucking miles annually and serve up to 150 stores as it expands westward from the East Coast into the Midwest.

Ollie’s, the largest closeout merchandise and excess inventory retailer, opened its fourth distribution center Aug. 21 in Princeton, Ill.

“Princeton is a nice little central location there in Illinois,” Brian McNabb, Ollie’s senior vice president of supply chain, told Transport Topics. “You’ve got immediate access to I-80, which puts you within arm’s reach of Chicago, St. Louis, Indianapolis and all the major Midwest cities, because it just feeds all the other interstates from there.”

Founded in 1982 in Mechanicsburg, Pa., Ollie’s is expanding westward. Last year, it opened 48 stores and now operates 525 locations in 31 states, including its first Wisconsin store in Kenosha, which opened in June.

The company invested more than $75 million in the 615,000-square-foot Princeton facility, located about 60 miles north of Peoria. It will distribute merchandise to 60 stores in nine states, with capacity to serve up to 150 stores.

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McNabb 

McNabb said the new distribution center is “less than a day’s transit to almost every store” it serves. The average distance to stores is now just over 200 miles, compared with 600 miles when servicing the same stores from multiple distribution centers previously. “That’s well over 1.2 million miles saved per year,” McNabb noted, adding that the savings will increase as more stores open in the area.

As an economic development incentive, Illinois provided the company with a tax credit requiring a $75 million investment in the local community and the creation of more than 200 jobs. Ollie’s employs 12,000 people companywide.

The Princeton distribution center could expand to serve between 80 and 90 stores over the next year, depending on business growth and distribution realignments, McNabb said. Ollie’s meets its trucking needs using contracts with dedicated carriers.

At the grand opening, company President Eric van der Valk emphasized the distribution center’s role in Ollie’s expansion plans. He noted the facility, which features advanced technology and automation, will support the company’s goal of operating more than 1,300 stores nationwide, while also contributing to local economic growth.

“It is the first facility we built with all-new equipment,” McNabb said. “We do have some robotics in the facility, and that’s new to Ollie’s.”

The automation equipment includes sorting systems and a layer-picking machine that retrieves items one layer at a time from a pallet instead of placing cases on a conveyor. This technology is designed for Ollie’s store-focused bulk shipment operations rather than e-commerce.

“We’re excited to learn about that technology,” he said. “We’re also super excited about being in Princeton, and the way the community has welcomed us.

“We’ve been really pleased with our team there and the teammates that we’ve been able to hire.”

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