VESTAL, NY (WSKG) - Nearly two years ago, Dicks Sporting Goods opened a distribution center in Conklin. Now, hoping to boost its e-commerce, Dicks has expanded the Broome County facility.
The company, which started in Binghamton, hosted a grand opening for the high-tech facility on Tuesday. It's the company's first such facility in the United States.
"We're taking e-commerce orders from our customers, have the product located here, which is a lot closer to where they live," said George Giacobbe, Dick’s Senior Vice President for Supply Chain.
"Basically, since we've opened it, we've cut about a day and a half lead time out to our customers, right away."
This allows the company to compete with industry giants like Amazon, said Giacobbe. Dicks claims the expansion means adding another 100 jobs to the facility's payroll. Over all, over 400 people have been hired since the facility opened and Giacobbe said they’re mostly locals.
“You know, coming into the area and trying to hire this many people has been very good for us,” he added.
Automation will also play a big role in the new facility, but Giacobbe said the technology is meant to assist employees, not replace them.