Business & Tech
Peapod Will Move Warehouse to Hanover
The home delivery company, a subsidiary of Giant Food, plans to move its distribution center to Hanover by the end of May.
Peapod plans to open a large new warehouse in Hanover within the next month in a move that’s expected to bring as many as 100 new jobs to northwest Anne Arundel County.
The home food delivery firm, a subsidiary of Giant Food, is moving its distribution center from Gaithersburg to Hanover in order to serve a larger geographic area in the Baltimore-Washington region, according to Giant spokesman J. Moore.
The warehouse at 1020 Airport 100 Way in Hanover is 50 percent larger than the Gaithersburg facility, spanning 150,000 square feet, said Elana Margolis, spokeswoman for Peapod.
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When asked whether the played a role in warehouse site selection, Margolis said no.
Three of the four sites currently being considered for the facility—which would increase the volume of goods transported between trucks and trains—are located within five miles of the new Peapod warehouse.
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"We know about it," Margolis said of the rail project proposal, "but it is not the reason why" the company selected the location.
"[Hanover] is where we ended up getting the best space, and we were hoping that eventually transit would become easier for our employees," said Margolis, who noted that access to public transportation in Montgomery County was a challenge.
The Gaithersburg center, which currently employs 375 people, is scheduled to shut down by the end of May. Its closure clears the path for major new development at the site by Montgomery County government offices, including a new police headquarters and the Department of Liquor Control.
About three-fourths of the Peapod workers at its soon-to-be-closed Gaithersburg warehouse have decided to make the move to Anne Arundel County with the company. But 90 others don’t want to travel the 30 miles from the current Montgomery County location near the Shady Grove Metro station.
The company is already starting to hire for the Hanover center, according to Margolis. Several jobs are listed online, including warehouse workers and drivers at wages between $9 and $11 per hour.
“We’re hiring more people over there now,” Margolis said. “We’re also going to be growing in the next year or so, adding more jobs as we grow.”
Elkridge Patch editor Elizabeth Janney contributed to this report.
