Maersk to run $100M Boston fulfillment center for large retailer

Maersk in late August will open a 617,000-square foot fulfillment center in a Boston suburb to support a single, large-scale e-commerce customer, the integrated logistics and container shipping giant announced on Wednesday.

Maersk said it invested $100 million to outfit the facility with advanced conveyor and sortation technology, and other features,enabling it to process up to 330,000 parcels per day at peak capacity. The warehouse, located in Hopedale, Massachusetts, offers faster, more reliable fulfillment and delivery across the Northeast by positioning inventory closer to customers.  About 1,000 people will be hired to operate the Hopedale, Massachusetts, warehouse.

The investment underscores how Maersk has evolved over 15 years from a commoditized port-to-port container shipping business to an end-to-end provider of supply chain services, under the premise that serving all a customer’s freight transportation, warehousing and fulfillment needs under one umbrella translates into stronger, long-term relationships.

In 2021, Maersk acquired Salt Lake City-based Visible Supply Chain Management, a large e-commerce logistics company with fulfillment centers across the country. It uses a mix of national and regional carriers to make last-mile deliveries, augmented by its own trucks where it makes sense.