Dive Brief:
- The Lego Group is investing $366 million to build a warehouse and distribution center in Prince George County, Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced May 8.
- The 2 million-square-foot facility is meant to boost supply chain flexibility and shorten lead times for Lego. The investment is expected to create 305 jobs and is being supported by a $2.53 million grant from the Commonwealth’s Development Opportunity Fund.
- “The regional distribution center will bring greater flexibility to our network, ensuring we are well positioned to support long-term growth in the Americas," said Lego’s COO Carsten Rasmussen.
Dive Insight:
Lego’s new warehouse builds on efforts to move its production and distribution operations closer to its target markets.
The regional distribution center is being developed in conjunction with Lego’s manufacturing facility under construction in Chesterfield, Virginia. The factory in Meadowville Technology Park, which broke ground in 2023, is slated to open in 2027. The 1.7 million-square-foot site was initially set to be completed this year.
While Lego did not share additional details about the regional distribution center, a spokesperson told Supply Chain Dive that the warehouse is “on track to open in 2027.”
"Together with our future Virginia factory, the [Regional Distribution Center] will shorten our supply chain in the region – reducing lead times for our customers as well as our environmental impact,” Rasmussen said.
The investment also enables Lego to receive benefits from the Port of Virginia Economic and Infrastructure Development Grant Program, which offers incentives to boost growth at the port.
“The Port of Virginia is investing in parallel to ensure we can meet the demand that this type of expansion requires,” said Virginia Port Authority CEO and Executive Director Stephen Edwards.
Beyond Virginia, Lego has been making additional investments to expand its global supply chain. The company currently operates five factories and four regional distribution centers globally, all of which are located close to its markets, according to its 2024 annual report.
Lego is also expanding its manufacturing capacity at existing factories in Mexico, Hungary and China, per the report. In addition, a factory and regional distribution center in Vietnam is expected to be operational this year after the company opened a regional distribution center in Belgium in 2024. The Belgium facility can reduce delivery times by up to two days to some retailers, per Lego.
Long term, the company aims to operate two regional distribution centers in each of its operating regions — Europe, Middle East and Africa, the Americas, and Asia and Pacific, per the report.
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