STOCKTON — Walmart is opening its fifth California fulfillment center 13 miles north of Manteca just off the Highway 99/Mariposa Road interchange in Stockton.

The 900,000-square-foot facility will enable the retailer to fulfill online orders throughout the West Coast with greater speed and efficiency.

The plan is to hire 1,000 workers to staff the fulltime center.

The high-tech facility will feature an automated, high-density storage and retrieval system that streamlines a manual, 12-step process down to just five steps.

Benefits of the new technology include more comfort for associates, double the storage capacity, and twice the number of customer orders Walmart can fulfill in a day, expanding next- or two-day shipping for Walmart customers.

It is the latest example of South San Joaquin County’s growing in importance as a distribution  and logistics hub for the Bay Area, Northern California and the Greater West Coast.

Amazon has eight distribution centers in the area including Tracy, Stockton, Manteca, Turlock, and Patterson.

A number of other major retailers already have fulfillment centers and distribution centers in the area as well.

The list includes Wayfair, Costco, Safeway, Ford Small Auto Parts, Ashley Furniture, Federal Express, United Parcel Service, 5.11 Tactical, Home Depot, and Lowe’s Home Improvement to name a few.

The retailer will hire for a variety of positions, including tech-focused jobs.

Full-time positions qualify for Walmart’s total rewards and benefits plans, including medical, vision and dental insurance, 401(k) matching, paid time off, stock purchase plan and access to a tuition-paid college degree through Walmart’s Live Better U.

Candidates can search for open positions and complete applications online at careers.walmart.com.

“The announcement of our high-tech fulfillment center in Stockton commemorates yet another significant stride in our omni-channel retail efforts,” said Karisa Sprague, senior vice president, Fulfillment Network Operations for Walmart U.S.

“In response to increasing customer demand for online shopping, we are implementing technology to enhance delivery speed and accuracy for our customers, all the while creating new and exciting technology-empowered career paths for our associates.”

Walmart currently has 8 distribution centers, 4 fulfillment centers, 309 retail stores and employs 100,140 plus associates in California.. 

Combined with the rest of Walmart’s fulfillment network, ‘next generation’ fulfillment centers, like the Stockton facility, will enable the retailer to reach 95% of the U.S. population with next- or two-day shipping.

Walmart Fulfillment Services, Walmart’s end-to-end third-party fulfillment service, will also leverage the space to fulfill third-party Marketplace items. 

 Each week, approximately 240 million customers and members visit more than 10,500 stores and numerous eCommerce websites in 20 countries.

Walmart employs approximately 2.1 million associates worldwide.  

Its fiscal year 2023 revenue was $11 billion.

 To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com