NORTH RANDALL, OHIO — Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has unveiled plans to open an 855,000-square-foot fulfillment center at the former site of Randall Park Mall in North Randall, roughly 15 miles southeast of Cleveland.
“Along with Team NEO and the Village of North Randall, the Cleveland Port Authority and the Greater Cleveland Partnership, we are pleased to partner with Amazon to revitalize and bring jobs back to a property that has stood vacant for too long,” said John Minor, JobsOhio president and chief investment officer. “Amazon’s investment at a site where the nation’s largest shopping mall once stood will now support digital retail jobs.”
The new center will create approximately 2,000 full-time associate jobs with benefits. Employees will work with Amazon Robotics to pack and ship smaller customer items such as electronics, toys and books. Amazon currently employs more than 4,500 full-time hourly associates at its two existing Ohio fulfillment centers in Etna and Obetz.
“Our ability to expand in Ohio is the result of two things: incredible customers and an outstanding workforce in the state,” said Sanjay Shah, Amazon’s vice president of North American customer fulfillment. “We very much appreciate the state and local elected leaders who have supported Amazon’s arrival in North Randall and look forward to bringing more jobs and investment in the coming months.”
The project is being developed in partnership with Atlanta-based Seefried Industrial Properties, an agency that specializes in the development, leasing and management of industrial real estate across the country. The center is slated to open in the second half of 2018, according to the Cincinnati Business Courier.
Amazon operates more than 70 fulfillment centers nationwide, employing more than 90,000 people full-time.
Amazon’s stock price closed at $945.26 per share on Friday, Aug. 25, up from $759.22 per share one year ago.
— Camren Skelton