Walmart building massive new warehouse of the future in NJ

PILESGROVE — Walmart giveth and taketh away in Salem County with the closing of one facility and the announcement of a new one.

A Walmart distribution center under construction in Pilesgrove is one of five being built around the country as part of a plan to make its online grocery business more efficient.

The 700,000-square-foot warehouse will create 400 jobs and will open in 2027. It will also utilize technology that the retailer says will allow it to better serve the changing way people shop.

"These high-tech DCs can store double the number of cases and process more than twice the volume of a traditional perishable DC, more than doubling the number of cases processed per hour," Dave Guggina, Walmart's executive vice president for supply chain operations, said in a statement.

ALSO READ: NH man dies a hero after rescuing children from dangerous river

The modern era of retail

The new facility will use automation to reduce tasks like stacking cases. Workers will have the opportunity to develop skills that "reflect the modern era of retail, creating new opportunities for career development and growth."

Walmart in May announced plans to close a fulfillment center in Pedrickstown and move the jobs 170 miles to a newer facility in Greencastle, Pennsylvania. According to the WARN notice filed with the state Department of Labor & Workforce Development in May, 271 jobs will be eliminated by September. Walmart is offering workers willing to make the move a $7,500 bonus and will pay relocation costs, according to ROI-NJ.

A company spokesperon told ROI-NJ the company is proud of the work done in Pedrickstown and hope all workers will make the move.

ALSO READ: Mystery solved: why you heard a strange noise in NJ