Dot Foods expanding its Ardmore warehouse
ARDMORE, Okla. (KTEN) —Dot Foods is expanding its sprawling Ardmore distribution center.
The $13.9 million investment will nearly double the size of Dot's frozen warehouse.
"That product still gets to our customers, but it's being shipped to us from one of three different distribution centers in our network: Mount Sterling, Tennessee and Arizona," explained Dot Foods general manager Rob Hendry. "Every touch lends itself to damage and other things, so we're minimizing that touch; we're minimizing the miles that that product has to ride in a truck."
Thirty-five new jobs will be created over the next three years as a result of the expansion.
In the wake of Michelin's announcement that tire production will end at its Ardmore plant by 2025 — along with the loss of 1,400 jobs — Ardmore Development Authority president Bill Murphy says the Dot Foods expansion is a bit of good news.
"Just because Michelin is leaving doesn't mean Ardmore is leaving," he said. "Having this announcement from Dot reassures us that we still have a strong message."
The Dot Foods expansion will add 25,000 square feet of warehouse space to the facility's west side, using the last available space on the company's property.
"We're not going to be able to squeeze anything more out of it," Hendry said. "Call it 2031 when we outgrow this expansion. Then we'll start to get back to a situation where we're depending more on other distribution centers."
Dot's expanded frozen foods warehouse is expected to be operational by next fall.
