Ahold Delhaize invests $860M to build North Carolina distribution center

Dive Temporary:

• Ahold Delhaize USA has made an $860 million investment to build a distribution center in Burlington, North Carolina, in an effort to develop its provide chain community, in line with a Wednesday announcement. 
• The brand new facility will add over 1 million sq. toes of distribution infrastructure for contemporary and frozen grocery objects, which is able to primarily assist the corporate’s Meals Lion shops.
• This Meals Lion-focused distribution heart comes because the banner continues to be Ahold Delhaize USA’s golden goose, attaining its 51st consecutive quarter of constructive comp-store gross sales progress in August.

Dive Perception:

Development on the distribution heart, which is able to depend on automated provide chain expertise, is slated to start in 2026, and operations are anticipated to begin in 2029. 

The brand new distribution heart will enable Ahold Delhaize’s stateside distribution and transportation firms to “develop their capability to assist Meals Lion’s progress within the state, together with bringing new jobs,” Ahold Delhaize USA CEO JJ Fleeman mentioned in an announcement. 

This new website is a part of the corporate’s bigger Growing Together strategy, Ahold Delhaize famous in a separate announcement, and the newest step within the firm’s self-distribution drive that started six years in the past.

The incoming Burlington, North Carolina, facility, which marks Ahold Delhaize’s fourth within the state, will create over 500 new jobs, per the announcement. The corporate’s different North Carolina websites are situated in Salisbury, Butner and Dunn. 

Meals Lion, which has been a top-performing banner for Ahold Delhaize in recent times, at present has over 1,100 stores throughout 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states. Along with its ongoing comp-store gross sales progress, the grocery chain led on-line gross sales progress stateside for Ahold Delhaize in its second quarter. Ahold Delhaize reached e-commerce profitability on a completely allotted foundation through the first half of 2025, the corporate reported in August as a part of its second-quarter earnings presentation.