Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this article accurately quoted an Amazon employee calling its Desert Hot Springs warehouse a “middle-mile” facility. A company spokesperson later said it’s actually a “first-mile” facility.
Amazon celebrated the opening of its new warehouse in Desert Hot Springs with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and facility tour on Wednesday, Feb. 25.
The warehouse, known as an “Inbound Cross Dock,” is 635,000 square feet and “will receive and consolidate inventory before transporting bulk shipments to our fulfillment center network,” Amazon said in a press release. The company refers to this as a “first-mile facility.”
Below its soaring ceilings, conveyer belts carrying packages weave throughout the facility. There is something happening everywhere — packages being sorted by people and machines, employees operating equipment to transport items and piles of cardboard boxes. But it is also meticulously organized, with tape on the floor outlining where things should go and safe areas for guests to walk.
While it’s huge — more than three times the size of a Walmart Supercenter — the warehouse was originally supposed to be even bigger.
Desert Hot Springs’ planning commission approved the original project in March 2022 and then an amendment to downsize it in July 2023. Amazon had originally planned to build a fulfillment center that would’ve been among the largest warehouses in the country at around 3.4 million square feet and 105 feet in height. But it later opted to make it smaller due to economic conditions.
About 60 people gathered for Wednesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, which included Amazon staff, city staff and the Desert Hot Springs City Council. Mayor Scott Matas was among the speakers.
He said the warehouse coming to the city gives him more pride in the community. He also emphasized the jobs it is creating for locals, saying it currently has around 1,500 employees and will have about 2,000 once finished hiring.
“It’s a career creator for our community,” Matas said.
Amazon later led tours through the warehouse as it was operating. It provided safety gear, including neon vests to put on over clothing, and earphones so that attendees could hear their guide despite the loud noises of machines.
Lamont O’Neal, the learning operations manager, was among the Amazon staffers escorting guests through the facility and describing the work that it does. He showed key parts of Amazon’s order fulfillment process like where packages come in, where they are sorted and prepared, and then sent out again.
O’Neal said the facility is a key part of Amazon’s work to “make it faster for (customers) to receive their products within that one-to-two-day window or less.”
He also explained the function of some of Amazon’s equipment, like its conveyance belts for moving items and machines used for sorting packages. Other parts of the tour included a stop at Amazon’s “safety school,” where guests were shown a demonstration of how to safely secure a container, and areas for employees like lactation rooms and a wellness center.
“It’s a huge step for Desert Hot Springs,” Matas said to The Desert Sun.
Ani Gasparyan covers the western Coachella Valley cities of Desert Hot Springs and Cathedral City. Reach her at ani.gasparyan@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Amazon shows off its huge new warehouse in Desert Hot Springs
Reporting by Ani Gasparyan, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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