OKLAHOMA CITY (OBV) – The ribbon was cut on Oklahoma’s first Sam’s Club distribution center during a ceremony attended by U.S. Congressman Frank Lucas and members of the Oklahoma Legislature.
Sam’s Club management personnel and employees gathered for the ceremony inside the vast Oklahoma City-based distribution center. They stood in front of a stage from which Sam’s executives, Lucas and the legislators spoke.
The 300,000-square-foot distribution center, located at 2400 S. Council Road, will have 130 employees and supply dry goods to Oklahoma Sam’s Club locations.
Though there are multiple Walmart distribution centers in Oklahoma, this is the Sooner State’s first Sam’s Club distribution center.
“The significance of this is going to be huge for not only associates [and] economic development, but also to be able to provide great customer service to our clubs and be able to be here locally to the members here in Oklahoma,” said Bryan Patrom, director of Sam’s Club’s DC Operations.
The new distribution center will result in quicker customer service for Oklahoma Sam’s Club members.
“It’s going to get the product to the to the clubs faster,” Patrom said. “So, not only are we servicing clubs, but we’re also shipping to customers’ homes out of this facility. Instead of the long transportation from an out-of-state facility, with us being local, the transportation time is cut way down.”
Oklahoma City’s distribution center is significantly larger than the typical 70,000-square-foot Sam’s Club cross-stock warehouse, Patrom said.
“This is considered a multi-distribution center where we’re going to also do buffer storage and fulfillment and pallet sortation. It’s the new design for all Sam’s facilities going forward,” he said.
Operations at the distribution center will begin on Feb. 14, according to Patrom.
Lucas, R-OK-3, said the warehouse – a $40-million infrastructure investment – and the 130 jobs it creates are a boon for Oklahoma.
“It’s just one of those things that drives the economy forward and it could have been somewhere else,” Lucas said while speaking with Oklahoma Business Voice.
Sen. Michael Brooks, D-Oklahoma City, attended the ribbon cutting and referenced Walmart founder Sam Walton’s biographical connection to Oklahoma. Walton was born in Kingfisher in 1918.
“It’s significant, especially being 50 miles from the place where Sam Walton was born, to being right in the middle of the United States, to being able to have a distribution center here that that can attend to the needs of Oklahomans and places and people elsewhere,” Brooks said. “It shows that Oklahoma is strong [and] the south side of Oklahoma City is strong and worth investing in.”
A friendly business environment in Oklahoma will encourage more companies to expand into the Sooner State, Lucas said.
“It’s a combination of tax code issues, regulatory issues and infrastructure. You’ve got to have good highways and roads or transport to get [in and out of Oklahoma]. And it also involves education,” Lucas said.
Workforce development is key to attracting big companies to Oklahoma, Brooks said.
“We have workers ready to be able to do these types of jobs. And so whether that has to do with technology or it has to do with those beginning jobs, now we got to have people available and willing to work, and so that’s why I’m proud to be from the south side of Oklahoma City,” Brooks said.
Raising the standard of living in Oklahoma will also help entice company expansion into the state.
“We’ve also got to be willing to be able to make Oklahoma a better place to live, and that means becoming an attractive place when it comes to education, when it comes to quality of life, to be able to make those things more attractive so that when companies look, their employees are going to want to relocate here,” he said.
Gov. Kevin Stitt expressed enthusiasm for the new distribution center when its development was announced in August.
“Since Sam’s Club first opened in Oklahoma in 1983, Sam’s has been an important economic driver for our state,” Stitt said. “I am thrilled that partnership will continue as the company brings 130 long-term jobs to Oklahoma with this new distribution center.”
Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt also praised the investment in August, saying the new facility will be the latest addition to southwest Oklahoma City’s growing distribution corridor.
“We are excited to extend our long-term partnership with Walmart and Sam’s Club to include this new distribution center,” Mayor David Holt said. “Oklahoma City’s population continues to grow and as both our city and the company expand, we look forward to working together.”
Brooks said he anticipates more business developments in Southwest Oklahoma City.
“Up and down this corridor, especially right here on Council, you see all these distribution centers being set up that employ lots of people. It seems like this area is becoming a kind of a mecca when it comes to these types of distribution centers,” he said.
Walmart employs more than 35,000 people across the state, making it Oklahoma’s largest employer.
