Anderson gets $175 million distribution center

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The company said Monday it will build $175 million distribution center on Interstate 85 in Anderson County to supply stores in an eight-state region.

When it opens in 2007, the center will employ about 450, company officials said.

Walgreens re-entered the local retail market this past year and now has one store four cities — Greenville, Greer, Spartanburg and Greenwood. And others announced for Clemson and Berea.

But none yet for Anderson County, said Walgreens spokesman Michael Polzin.

Construction of the center, which the company said will be highly automated, will begin in the summer. At 700,000 square feet, it will cover an area greater than 12 football fields.

"It'll be high tech and a great addition to our manufacturing," said Joey Preston, the Anderson County administrator.

"We don't have any major distribution facilities in Anderson County," he said, "so in addition to providing jobs and needed investment, it will provide a different type of industry here, and helps us diversify our industrial base."

It will be a welcomed addition outside Anderson County, too, said Wanda Phillips, state employment security director for Pickens County and previously for Abbeville County, both of which abut Anderson and consistently have similar or higher unemployment rates.

In November, for instance, the rate for both Anderson and Pickens was 6.1 percent, and for Abbeville was 8.2 percent. Statewide, November's unemployment rate statewide was 6.9 percent.

The 110 acres earmarked for the Walgreens project and future expansions will take up more than three-quarters of the industrial park, which was developed by a public and private collaboration.

"So we'll probably be in the market to develop another Class A industrial park soon," said Preston.

Gov. Mark Sanford, who was to officiate at a formal announcement today in the Anderson County Council Chambers, said, the project "is precisely the kind of success story we're looking to repeat again and again throughout South Carolina.

"Any time you bring a company like Walgreens to town with this kind of job creation and capital investment, it's a significant boost to your state's economy."

Polzin said the company currently has 11 distribution centers nationwide, with a 12th under development in California. The only ones east of the Mississippi River, he said, are two in Florida and one each in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The company had been in discussions with Anderson, as well as runner-up Commerce, Ga., the runner-up, since mid-2002.

"One major reason we got it was we had a site available," Preston said. "The park is just about half way between Atlanta and Charlotte, and since Walgreens is expanding in both areas, it's perfect for them."

Walgreens had three pharmacies in Greenville and two in Columbia in 1972 when it decided to pull out of the state.

"We left a number of markets around the country where we had a very small presence, but really since the late 1980s, we've been in a very aggressive expansion mode," Polzin said.

"Back in the late 1980s, we were opening up about 100 stores a year, and by 2000, we were opening at least 400 stores a year," he said.

Currently, the company has nearly 4,300 stores in 44 states and Puerto Rico. During the 12 months ended Nov. 30, the company had $33.7 billion in sales.

Last year, Forbes magazine ranked Walgreens as the 45th largest U.S. company, based on revenues, and the fourth largest among food and drug retailers.

Founded in 1901, it has its headquarters in Deerfield, Ill.

For the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, it had net income of $1.2 billion, 15.4 percent higher than the $1 billion reported the previous year.