Officials of Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE:VLO) today marked the grand opening of the company’s first retail distribution center by announcing that they’ve invested $20 million in the project, created more than 200 new jobs and donated $30,000 worth of food and other merchandise to the San Antonio Food Bank.
The 132,000-square-foot distribution center, which has 2.6 million cubic feet of storage space, will supply more than 600 of Valero’s Diamond Shamrock Corner Stores located across Texas with retail merchandise. The center will be managed and operated by Core-Mark International, Inc.
To officially open the facility, Valero Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bill Greehey and Core-Mark President and Chief Executive Officer Mike Walsh rolled into the ceremony driving one of the new 28-foot tractor trailers, emblazoned with a colorful, billboard-sized image of merchandise from Valero’s Diamond Shamrock Corner Stores.
“Soon you’re going to be seeing trucks like this one all over the Texas highways delivering products to more than 600 Diamond Shamrock stores throughout the state,” said Greehey after driving the truck up to the podium. “But the one Mike and I drove in is extra special because it’s loaded with 16,000 items for the Food Bank. It will make its inaugural run and deliver this food to the San Antonio Food Bank in just a little while.”
When the truck arrives at the food bank, Valero Volunteers will unload enough coffee to make 50,000 cups; as well as 7,500 packaged beverages; 3,500 bottles of Corner Store Fresh Choices water; 960 Corner Store Fresh Choices sandwiches; and a wide range of other merchandise. The Food Bank, in turn, will distribute the donated merchandise to various community centers, homeless shelters, soup kitchens and human service agencies.
“We are excited to have built our very first distribution center here and to have invested $20 million in our community. And the 200 jobs the distribution center created were certainly well-received. We had more than 5,000 applications. And, we were able to hire truly outstanding new employees to run this top-notch facility,” Greehey said.
Walsh said that Core-Mark was excited about the new partnership with Valero. “This project has been a great partnership in every respect because it’s a win-win for Valero and Core-Mark. We’re thrilled about being associated with Valero because they are a leading retailer that will define the nation’s convenience retail landscape in the years to come. And, we believe that our unique expertise in defining and delivering innovative supply models will make Valero’s retail operations more efficient, effective and profitable going forward.”
Features & Benefits of the Retail Distribution Center
More than 30 million units – ranging from fresh milk, coffee and beverages to candy, snacks and household items – are expected to be shipped from the facility each year. In fact, on an annual basis, the center expects to distribute 32 million candy bars, which is enough to stretch from California to New York if lined up end-to-end; more than 1.2 million gallons of Gatorade, enough for every San Antonian to drink a gallon; and 500 miles of hot dogs, the equivalent of stacking the Tower of Americas end-to-end 3,500 times.
The state-of-the-art center includes office space; frozen, refrigerated and dry-storage space; and a chilled dock for receiving and shipping perishable products. It also includes the latest computerized warehouse management system and modern material-handling equipment, and utilizes radio frequency technology and a computerized “pick-to-light” selection system to assist employees in selecting merchandise.
The company’s fleet of trucks is expected to travel 2 million miles per year, a distance equal to 80 trips around the globe or four trips to the moon and back. And, these trucks will ship 100 million pounds of products annually, which is the weight of 12,000 elephants.
“During a typical day at the center, RDC employees process several hundred store orders for approximately 100,000 units of merchandise,” said Walsh. “The orders are filled that night from our inventory; loaded in stop-order sequence on our fleet of more than 30 tri-temperature trailers; and then delivered to the stores. The process runs smoothly and efficiently and guarantees on-time delivery.”
Greehey further explained the benefits to Valero’s retail business. “With this new center, we will have more flexibility and control over the supply chain supporting our retail business, and will be better able to supply our stores with the right products at the right time,” he said.
About Valero
Valero Energy Corporation is a Fortune 500 company based in San Antonio, with approximately 20,000 employees and annual revenue of approximately $55 billion. The company owns and operates 15 refineries throughout the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Valero's refineries have a combined throughput capacity of approximately 2.5 million barrels per day, which represents approximately 12 percent of the total U.S. refining capacity. Valero is also one of the nation's largest retail operators with more than 4,700 retail and wholesale branded outlets in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean under various brand names including Diamond Shamrock, Shamrock, Ultramar, Valero, and Beacon. For more information, please visit www.valero.com.
About Core-Mark
Core-Mark is one of the largest broad-line, full-service wholesale distributors of packaged consumer products to the convenience retail industry in North America. Founded in 1888, Core-Mark provides distribution and logistics services as well as marketing programs to over 18,000 retail locations in 37 states and five Canadian provinces through 24 distribution centers. Core-Mark services traditional convenience retailers, grocers, mass merchandisers, drug, liquor and specialty stores, and other stores that carry consumer packaged goods. For more information, please visit www.coremark.com.