D.C. for Skechers
Manhattan Beach–based footwear maker Skechers signed an 11-year lease for a 1.8 million-square-foot distribution center in Rancho Belago, a new community in California’s Inland Empire, east of Los Angeles. HF Logistics I, LLC, an affiliate of Highland Fairview, is the owner of the property, which is expected to be completed by early 2009. Once opened, Skechers will be able to receive, store, retrieve, pack and ship product through a high-tech handling system. The footwear maker will move and centralize its operations from five facilities in Ontario to the new Rancho Belago center. Paul Galliher, Skechers senior vice president of distribution, said the new distribution center is needed to handle the company’s recent growth. “Skechers has been growing steadily over the last few yearshellip;from $920 million in annual sales in 2004 to $1.2 billion at the close of 2006. hellip; With our planned highly automated single facility in Rancho Belago, we believe we can improve the efficiency of our logistics operations necessary to leverage our distribution-center costs while meeting the increased demand for our product.”
