Backcountry.com is now hiring for its 7-acre warehouse
The new Backcountry warehouse and distribution center in the Falling Branch Corporate Park in Christiansburg. Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times
[Correction Aug. 22, 2012, 11:10 a.m.:This story has been revised to correct the date of issuance of a tempoary occupancy permit]
Backcountry.com has begun hiring employees for its 7-acre warehouse beside Interstate 81 in Christiansburg, filling several management jobs before moving on to fill an undisclosed number of rank and file positions, said Ruth Richey, Montgomery County spokeswoman.
After filling the first 15 jobs – in information technology, human resources, maintenance and the like – “they will be ramping up significantly in the near future,” Richey said.
Within three years, the facility is expected to have 216 people.
The county has invited about 150 public officials, business leaders, media and others for a grand opening celebration Friday.
Just 11 months after announcing the project, building construction is complete. Town of Christiansburg officials issued a temporary occupancy permit Aug. 3 for the new structure, according to town spokeswoman Becky Wilburn..
Backcountry, a web-based retailer headquartered in Utah, intends to stock outdoor apparel and gear in the huge warehouse, which at 315,000 square feet holds more than seven acres of interior space. A rack and conveyor system will be used to retrieve merchandise ordered by customers who shop by phone or online.
The company was drawn to Christiansburg because it said it needs a distribution hub for the eastern United States. Its only other warehouse is in the Park City, Utah, area. The company has no physical stores, but now dominates Falling Branch Corporate Park, a business center beside I-81 near Exit 118. The company’s trademark goat logo decorates the building, whose estimated cost was $20 million.
The opening date for the new center has not been announced but, eventually, the company expects delivery to the eastern United States to decrease from four to five days to two or three days, officials have said, naming UPS as the preferred shipper.
The company operates a signature website devoted to clothing, shoes and sporting equipment for men, women and children, and about nine other online specialty sites.
It calls itself “the largest online specialty retailer of premium outdoor gear.”
The Roanoke Times | 381-1661
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