Croscill invests for the long term

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 4/12/2004 7:58:00 AM

OXFORD, N.C. —

Croscill's new distribution center opened for business last week, an $8 million project that the company expects will improve its operational efficiencies.

The 126,000-square-foot DC consists of three levels of high-bay (35 feet) pick modules and has the capacity to hold about 1.25 million units, according to Doug Kahn, chief operating officer of Croscill Home and CEO of its Royal Home Fashions subsidiary.

"We operate in a rapidly changing global environment," Kahn said in an address at last week's opening. "We are going to continue to invest in highly efficient and sophisticated systems."

The new facility will take over a significant portion of the picking currently being done at Croscill's Henderson, N.C., operation, which is located roughly eight miles away. The free space in Henderson – an amalgamation of six buildings — will be used for back-up storage, Kahn told HTT.

"The new facility is much more efficient. We were picking from every building in Henderson," he added. "Now we will pick from only two or three of them."

The new DC has also been built with an eye to future expansion. Located on a 30-acre site, it can be quadrupled in size going forward.

Kahn cautioned that Croscill is not interested in "being big just to be big." However, the company is interested in organic growth and is considering the addition of new product categories, he said.