The 800,000 square foot fulfillment center will serve as a distribution center of dog and cat food.
From Petfood Industry:
Online pet food retailer, Chewy.com, is scheduled to occupy a warehouse under construction in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, USA, reported local media outlet PAhomepage (WBRE/WYOU).
When completed, the 800,000 square foot fulfillment center will serve as a distribution center of dog and cat food, along with other pet products, for Chewy.com, according to the report. A Chewy.com spokesperson stated that the company has a growing customer base in the US Northeast, and that the online pet food sales distribution center would reduce delivery times to those customers.
Chewy.com may sell frozen raw pet food online
Chewy.com may be preparing to sell frozen raw pet food online, speculated Ellyce Rothrock, editor-in-chief of Pet Product News in her October 2016 blog, reported Petfood Industry. Her detective work to reach this conclusion started when a pet food retailer, B.C. Henschen of Platinum Paws in Indiana, told her that Chewy.com had installed a freezer in Indiana for Midwest distribution.
Concern over frozen raw pet food online sales
The possibility of online sales of frozen raw pet food concerned Henschen.
“Feeding frozen or raw takes a real conversation with the pet owner to ensure their pet gets exactly what it needs and the owner gets the steps required for feeding frozen,” Henschen said in Pet Product News.
The threat of losing business also concerned him. He worried that frozen raw pet food buyers would come in to a pet food specialty store only for their first purchase, then buy subsequent supplies of frozen raw pet food online.
Other dog and cat food retailers had concerns for the safety of shipping frozen raw pet food.
HANOVER TOWNSHIP, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) - Drivers along I-81 in Luzerne County might notice a lot of activity going on in one community. Construction crews are building a massive warehouse that's expected to create hundreds of jobs. Workers with Clayco Construction are building a new 800,000 square foot fulfillment center inside the Hanover Industrial Park.
Tim Wall covers the dog, cat and other pet food industries as a senior reporter for WATT Global Media. His work has appeared inScientific American, Live Science, Discovery News, Honduras Weekly, Global Journalist and other outlets. He holds an M.A. in journalism and an M.S. in natural resources, both
from the University of Missouri - Columbia, along with a bachelor's degree in biology.
Wall served in the Peace Corps in Honduras from 2005 to 2007, where he coordinated with the town government of Moroceli to organize a municipal trash collection system, taught environmental science, translated for medical brigades and facilitated sustainable agriculture, along with other projects.
Many hours, efforts, dollars and brainpower go into pet food companies’ and regulatory bodies’ efforts to ensure that products on the market are safe and healthy for pets.
