The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Amazon to set up new warehouse in state
Amazon is coming to Stratford.
The ecommerce giant has set its sights on opening a new distribution center at 500 and 600 Long Beach Blvd., signing a sevenyear lease for almost 200,000 square feet of warehouse and office space.
“We are pleased to be welcoming Amazon to Stratford,” Mayor Laura Hoydick wrote in a news release. “Stratford is an ideal location for this new distribution center for Amazon.”
The facility is expected to open Jan. 1, making it Amazon’s first distribution and fulfillment center in Fairfield County.
The facility will be located off Lordship Boulevard near the FedEx building, which Mary Dean, director of economic development for the town, said makes for a prime location off Interstate 95. Hoydick added that it also provides access to Routes 8 and 15 and
Sikorsky Memorial Airport.
“It’s huge to be recognized by Amazon as a place where they want to be, but it makes perfect sense because we have so many transportation modules,” Hoydick said.
The company has already begun advertising job openings for the new location, including shift managers, warehouse associates and warehouse team members. Amazon has not released information on how many people it’s looking to hire.
Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Hoydick, along with other town officials, said they are still trying to confirm how many jobs Amazon is looking to fill with the new facility.
“We don’t know how many they will bring because we haven’t yet spoken with Amazon,” Dean said. “I’m hoping that they would be able to hire locally. … I can’t even imagine how many jobs they are going to be able to bring to Stratford, encompassing almost 200,000 square feet. That’s huge.”
The plan for a Stratford facility comes a few months after Amazon opened a massive fulfillment center in North Haven on the former Pratt & Whitney site during the summer. Prior to opening the 1.2 millionsquarefoot facility there, the company said it was looking to hire around 1,800 people for various positions.
According to North Haven First Selectman Michael Freda, the facility has surpassed expectations with more than 2,000 people hired and counting.
“Since Amazon has opened here it has been a resounding success,” Freda said. “There has been a wonderful economic development multiplying aspect of having Amazon here.”
Stratford’s distribution center is nowhere near the size of North Haven’s, but Hoydick said it could be the start of bigger things for the town.
“I’m happy that they started here, and I would hope that they would expand here,” she said. “There are other distribution companies that may identify with Stratford the way that Amazon has and then we can grow and have more job creation and then expand our tax base more than we have right now.”
Amazon has come under fire in recent years with accusations of unhealthy workplace practices like forcing employees to work with limited breaks and at faster paces to meet order demands.
The allegations have also been associated with reported efforts by Amazon employees in the U.S. to unionize. The digital giant reportedly employs more than 613,000 people nationwide.
Amazon has denied the allegations.
"We strongly disagree with these unsubstantiated comments and laundry list of allegations,” a company spokesperson said in a published interview.
State officials said they were optimistic regarding Amazon preparing to open a facility in Stratford.
“Stratford is home to a talented workforce, great local businesses and a strong community,” wrote state Sen. Kevin Kelly, RStratford. “I applaud the entire team that worked to bring Amazon to Stratford who are dedicated to economic development and making our town an even better place to live, work and raise a family.”