DHL Supply Chain to manage U.S. expansion for UK fashion retailer

UK-based fashion retailer “boohoo” has selected contract logistics provider DHL Supply Chain to manage its distribution center (DC) expansion to the United States, the companies said today.

DHL Supply Chain will lead the operation of a 1.1 million square-foot DC in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, set to open in early 2023. The state-of-the-art facility will provide next-day delivery to the New York City metro area and will employ 1,000 associates in its first year of operation, according to DHL Supply Chain.

Boohoo has been serving U.S. customers from its UK DC; the Pennsylvania facility is the company’s first in the United States.

“Although boohoo has been servicing the U.S. through its existing network in the U.K. since 2006, the company’s growing order volumes and customer demand on this side of the pond in recent years made a U.S.-based distribution center for direct-to-consumer fulfillment a necessity,” Kraig Foreman, president of eCommerce for DHL Supply Chain said in a press release announcing the deal. “Their new facility will reduce transportation costs, improve service, and drive greater agility and speed, getting the latest trends into customers’ hands faster. We’re proud to partner with boohoo as they invest in the U.S. market and prepare for future growth.”

DHL Supply Chain said it plans to introduce highly automated solutions, including an automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) and a high-speed pouch sorter at the boohoo site within the next three years. Those systems work together to put away and replenish inventory in addition to providing picking and pack sortation. The site will be one of the first in DHL Supply Chain’s network to feature the technology.

The DC  will employ nearly 2,500 associates over the next three years, and will feature a kitchen/canteen with fresh food prepared daily, as well as an on-site gym and activity area. The site also will include a recruiting and training center for faster hiring and training of new associates, the companies said.