When I worked at AMZN they didn't even own their warehouses, though there weren't too many.
Once the financial crisis of '08-'09 hit, AMZN decided to take advantage of the cheap real estate
and build their own warehouses. OK, they took advantage of what the market was giving.
They also bought a warehouse management/robotics co. called Kiva from Mass., which requires
much larger floor space to operate. Kiva moves pallets to pickers, rather than vice versa. Kiva
had two big customers at the time, a drugstore chain and ??. Kiva claimed throughput with their
system increased 30%.
Now this talk of creating brick & mortar stores is another departure from AMZN doctrine. I can only
imagine that these will also be 'pick-up' points for online customers, as well as retail space for
Kindles, Best Sellers, etc.
One thing about AMZN, they don't let any grass grow under their feet. They're always changing
something! Doesn't always work out, though.
BTW, it's 83° in Mesa!
Woody |
