DK Publishing has opened its first complete U.S. distribution center in LaVergne, Tenn., a city that is also home to Ingram Book Group's flagship warehouse.
The center covers more than 300,000 sq. ft. and will speed up delivery time by one to two days throughout the country, according to company officials. "Our backlist continues to grow, we're continuing to add more adult fiction and more books are generated here instead of in the U.K.," said Tom Reilly, a spokesperson for DK. "We just needed more space." Recent partnerships with the National Football League and such movie franchises as Star Wars have bolstered the company's list.
Until now, PRI had handled all fulfillment for the publisher, except for special projects such as review mailings, which DK fulfilled out of its own warehouse dedicated to that purpose. Under the new system, DK will continue to use PRI for customer-service functions, but will bring all other operations under its own auspices in the new space. Reilly noted that this consolidation will "streamline the whole process."
The new center gives DK more than double the space it previously occupied in the PRI warehouse and the company's own special projects distribution center.
