Top 40 supplier S&S Activewear (asi/84358) officially opened a new 800,000-square-foot distribution center in Reno, NV, on Tuesday. The facility provides for 30% more SKUs and three-times more inventory than Bolingbrook, IL-headquartered S&S offered through its previous West Coast center. With the new center and its other facilities around the country, S&S now offers one-day shipping to 41 states.

“Our quest to bring one-day shipping across the country is now a reality,” said Frank Myers, chief operating officer at S&S. “We’ve been growing since 1989, with expansions to California, New Jersey, Kansas, Texas and Georgia. Our Reno location is by far our biggest yet.”

From the facility, S&S will provide one-day shipping to Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington. “We’ve also deepened our two-day coverage across the southwestern and mountain states,” said Myers, noting Reno’s strategic location in relation to western and mountain states was a key reason the company decided to set up shop in the town affectionately called “The Biggest Little City in the World.”

Set to employ about 350 people at the location in the North Valleys Commerce Center, the distribution center features a solar power generation system to help reduce S&S’s carbon footprint – a priority for the supplier. “The new space was developed with people and the planet in mind,” Myers said. “The facility location offers a fantastic quality of life for S&S employees, with favorable costs of living and access to desirable schools and national parks, including Tahoe National Forest.” S&S’s lease is the largest of its kind in Nevada’s state history, he added.

Frank Myers, S&S Activewear

Executives noted that operations from the company’s former Santa Fe facility are being consolidated into the Reno distribution center. S&S has repositioned call center functions that had been in Santa Fe to Tempe, AZ.

Looking ahead, S&S said it will expand its footprint in Illinois to 750,000-square-feet when it relocates from its current Bolingbrook facility to a new building in Lockport, IL, later in 2019. “This will bring our total square feet across the country to more than four million,” said Myers.

S&S thanked partners that helped make the Reno operation a reality, including Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve and the City of Reno. “Additionally, S&S would like to thank its employees, vendors, customers and partners at Cushman & Wakefield and Panattoni Development, as well as Alston Construction for making this West Coast expansion a reality,” the company said in a statement.

With reported 2017 North American promotional product revenue of $485 million, S&S Activewear ranked fifth on Counselor’s latest list of the largest suppliers in the industry.