Inditex’s newest logistics center has a target completion date.
According to a report from Spanish publication El Periódico de Aragón, the Zara parent expects to finish construction on its second distribution center in the city of Zaragoza by June 2026.
The report said the facility first began trial operations in July, and started shipping products to stores in mid-August. Starting with an initial workforce of 250 employees, the facility is expected to employ as many as 1,500 workers at full buildout. The first workers focused on key tasks including unloading and storing merchandise, preparing orders for physical and online stores and managing both ground and air shipments.
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The initial investment in the Zaragoza facility is around 100 million euros ($116 million), but will reach 600 million euros ($697 million) when the whole plant is operating at full capacity.
Sourcing Journal reached out to Inditex.
In a September earnings call, Inditex CEO Óscar García Maceiras described the Zaragoza II distribution center as “up and running,” as part of a wider two-year logistics expansion plan that he indicated was “on track.”
In total, that plan cost an estimated 900 million euros per year ($1.05 billion) in 2024 and 2025.
Inditex initially embarked on the expansion initiative to strengthen its distribution capacity and capture more global growth opportunities in the medium and long term. In its March annual report, the company also indicated there was a “risk of concentration of activity of logistics operations (procurement, storage and distribution) in a limited number of distribution centers, whether our own or operated by third parties, located across Spain.”
“As we explained when launching the plant, the rationale behind this plan is to be in a position to continue providing our customers with high-quality fashion regardless of channel formats and geography and taking advantage of all the growth opportunities that we continue to see everywhere,” Maceiras said in June.
The new Zaragoza site complements the city’s primary warehouse, which spans 3.5 million square feet. Along with Zaragoza II, Inditex is building out two facilities in Valencia, one each for its Bershka brand and footwear manufacturer Tempe. The fast-fashion giant is also expanding a Zara distribution center in The Netherlands as part of the logistics expansion plan.
When finished, the second Zaragoza logistics center will cover more than 2.4 million square feet and include a 215,400-square-foot garment finishing facility.
The center’s main building spans 1.5 million square feet, includes 113 loading docks and was designed to operate almost entirely autonomously, equipped with technology for garment sorting and distribution.
It will include six robotic silos for automated storage and hanging garments and packages. Five elevated walkways connect the silos to the main warehouse to optimize logistics operations. When completed, Inditex expects peak traffic of 150 trucks per day.
Another report from Madrid-based publication El Confidencial earlier in October said the Zara parent also submitted the only bid to develop a logistics and industrial park in Sagunto. The company has never confirmed the bid, which was reported to be 160 million euros ($185 million) for a roughly 3.3-million-square-foot plot of land.
Inditex’s ambitions to scale its logistics influence haven’t ended with its own facilities. In July, Inditex invested in Theker Robotics, a startup developing AI-driven logistics automation. That funding round totaled $21 million, although it is unknown what the fast-fashion retailer’s stake is. Theker has stated that it is already working with Inditex to automate critical tasks in environments where traditional robotics cannot yet operate.
The El Periódico de Aragón report came out a week after Macy’s celebrated the grand opening of its new fulfillment and store replenishment center in China Grove, N.C. The 2.5-million-square-foot facility is the largest center in Macy’s fulfillment network.
Sean Barbour, senior vice president of supply chain at Macy’s, told the Wall Street Journal that the building fulfills orders in less than a day on average, compared with about 1.5 to two days at other sites.
The construction and opening of the fulfillment center took longer, was more expensive than initially expected. The project cost roughly $640 million, up from the $584 million in anticipated expenses when the announcement was first made in 2022. At the time, the warehouse was expected to open in 2024, and was set to be a smaller 1.4 million square feet.
According to Macy’s, the company plans to expand the fulfillment and replenishment service to products sold via Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury banners over the next two years. The retail giant selected Manhattan Associates as the location’s warehouse management system, the WSJ article said.
