Gildan Activewear Inc. spokesman Garry Bell said the Montreal-based company announced the opening of a Jacksonville distribution center “as part of an expansion of our distribution capacity and capabilities to support future growth across many of our brands.”
Gildan signed a lease for 306,611 square feet of distribution and office space at NorthPort Logistics Center in North Jacksonville. The city is reviewing a permit application for a $353,770 build-out at 11530 New Berlin Road for Gildan.
Bell said it will start operations at the beginning of May. It applied for a Certificate of Use from the city for 305,000 square feet of space.
A representative of the building ownership said Gildan, with a long-term lease, will fill up the remaining vacant space in the almost 873,000-square-foot warehouse.
Dan Stover, first vice president with Newmark Grubb Phoenix Realty Group, represented the building owner. Bart Hinson, senior associate with Colliers International, represented Gildan.
The company maintains a global network of distribution centers that service more than 55 markets and handle more than 1.5 billion units each year, according to its gildan.com site.
Gildan makes and markets basic apparel under brands for men, women, boys and girls that include its Gildan brand as well as American Apparel, Gold Toe, Anvil, Silks, Peds and others.
It also distributes the Under Armour brand through a licensing agreement providing exclusive distribution rights in the U.S. and Canada, it says.
Bell said Gildan operates a network of owned and third-party contracted distribution facilities “and the Jacksonville location will be part of that network.”
He said Gildan did not have estimates about the number of employees it will hire or the customer base the center will service.
He said American Apparel, Gold Toe, Peds and Powersox are brands Gildan sells directly to consumers through e-commerce websites.
Gildan reported net sales of $2.75 billion in 2017, up 6.4 percent from the previous year.
Real Capital Solutions, a Colorado investment group, paid $33 million to buy the NorthPort Logistics Center in September 2015. The warehouse was developed in 2009 on 76.8 acres.
The warehouse is 2.5 miles from the JaxPort Blount Island Marine Terminal.
Tiger Academy, the charter school of YMCA of Florida’s First Coast, announced that Rayonier Advanced Materials has committed to sponsor the incoming class of students for all six years through the RYAM Foundation.
In one year, RYAM raised $102,288 through employee donations from about 100 people at its Jacksonville corporate headquarters, which will cover four of the six years that the students are enrolled. Next year, RYAM plans to raise the funds for the final two years.
A representative group of RYAM employees learned about Tiger Academy’s mission by touring the school before unanimously voting to adopt an entire class as part of the company’s philanthropic efforts, it said in a news release.
Tiger Academy is a free public charter school in Northwest Jacksonville and operated by the YMCA of Florida’s First Coast.
Through a partnership with the Johnson Family YMCA, Tiger Academy’s students access enrichment opportunities and family support services.
• The city approved a $1.34 million installation of interior storage racks for Benco Dental Supply Co. at 13525 International Parkway. Benco intends to double in size as it moves its distribution center from Westside Industrial Park into 124,000 square feet of space at the International 3 building.
• Greencore USA will renovate at Jacksonville International Tradeport to improve and update its production facility. Reeves Insulation Inc. will handle the $1.56 million, 19,200-square-foot project at 13949 Alvarez Road, No. 105. Greencore’s total tenant area is more than 62,000 square feet, plans show. Greencore USA is a subsidiary of Greencore Group, an Ireland-based food preparation company. In Jacksonville it makes sushi, sandwiches, green-leaf salads and ready-to-cook entrees for clients such as 7-Eleven, Trader Joe’s and Publix Super Markets Inc., according to city documents.