UpFront Q&A: John Hopkins — Sweetwater’s President and CEO Discusses the Company’s New Fulfillment Center

Earlier this summer, Indiana-based MI retail powerhouse Sweetwater Sound announced they would be opening a new fulfillment center in Glendale, Arizona to meet growing demands represented by customers on the west coast. With this new distribution center up and running, packages will now arrive to west coast destinations within a day or two.

In addition to helping to provide enhanced customer service and reduced shipping time to the “left coast,” the new center now also provides many jobs to the Glendale area – as many as 165 positions in will be filled once the facility is fully up and running in the fall.

In mid-June, we spoke with Sweetwater president and CEO, John Hopkins, to discuss how this new 350,000 square-foot fulfillment center came about and the upsides it provides.

What served as the catalyst for exploring new options for a fulfillment center?

Our decisions are always driven by our passion to better serve our customers.

The opening of this new fulfillment center is one more way for us to do that. Those who live in the western part of the country often have to wait several days for their orders to arrive from our facility in Indiana. This will change that dramatically. Now most orders will arrive at their destinations within a day or so.

When was the decision made to go ahead with the Glendale location and why?

Glendale represented the optimal spot for getting gear to West Coast customers quickly. There also happened to be available distribution center space for lease and a strong labor market. Timing was right because we were also trying to alleviate pressure on the Fort Wayne distribution center, which is rapidly approaching maximum capacity due to our growth.

The new facilities are roughly 350,000 square feet. How does that compare to the Fort Wayne location?

The Fort Wayne distribution center is over 580,000 square feet. (We have over 1 million square feet in the Fort Wayne campus overall.)

Regarding hiring necessary personnel, how is Sweetwater going about attracting talent?

We’re using the same approach that we use in Fort Wayne. We have competitive pay and benefits, treat our employees well, and promote from within. Our staffing team is recruiting directly, and we are also working with local labor agencies to fill positions for hourly workers.

Other than staffing, what needs to happen between early summer/now and the planned-for opening date of this October?

We are currently installing the racking and conveyance infrastructure and building out basics such as offices and break room amenities. We’re also installing air conditioning in the entire facility.

What would you like MMR readers to know about how this new development at Sweetwater will impact their business?

We believe it will be a win-win for everyone and are thrilled about this growth.