LITTLE ROCK — Nashville, Tenn.’s loss is Maumelle’s gain as Dillard’s Inc. prepares to move its Internet-order center to central Arkansas.
Initial plans call for employment of about 300. The facility, an 850,000-squarefoot former Target Corp. distribution center, is to be operational late this year.
Julie Bull, a Dillard’s spokesman, said the company in February began preparing to open the new center. In late April, she said, the 175 employees at the Nashville site were told that facility would close in late summer.
Those employees were given the option of transferring to other distribution centers, Bull said. Those who chose not to move received severance pay, she said. She declined to say how many opted for new jobs, saying the company does not comment on personnel issues.
The Maumelle center has much more capacity and the latest in distribution and ergonomic technology, Bull said, and also is much closer to company headquarters, she said.
The decision was welcome news in Maumelle.
“It doesn’t just benefit Maumelle, it benefits all of central Arkansas,” Maumelle Mayor Michael Watson said. “We’re very happy to have them, especially with them being an Arkansas-based company.”
A job fair earlier this year attracted 17 businesses and more than 700 job seekers, he said. Dillard’s has said the jobs will be both full-time and part-time, with pay ranging from $11 to $15 an hour.
Target’s employment at the center peaked around 800, but the figure was down to about 500 when it closed the facility in 2009 as part of companywide spending cuts. Dillard’s bought the property in December 2010.
Other major employers in Maumelle include Molex Inc., which makes electronic connectors, with about 1,000 employees; Kimberly-Clark Corp., with 250 employees working in retail distribution; and Ace Hardware, with 260 employees in wholesale distribution.
Business, Pages 31 on 05/23/2012