Apparel wholesaler plans $50M Hanover facility, 1K jobs

SanMar Corp., the United States’ largest supplier of wholesale printable accessories and apparel, will invest at least $50 million to establish distribution operations in Hanover County and create an expected 1,000 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Thursday.

SanMar’s operations, planned to occupy a 1.1 million-square-foot building in the East Coast Commerce Center, will be the Washington-based company’s largest facility as well as its flagship for its East Coast distributions. Virginia competed with North Carolina for the project.

“Securing SanMar Corp.’s flagship distribution center highlights Virginia’s strategic location, strong infrastructure and workforce as critical decision factors for logistics operations,” Youngkin said in a statement.

SanMar was founded in 1971 in the basement of an office building owned by the father of company founder Marty Lott. Based in Issaquah, Washington, the company has eight additional distribution centers nationwide and works with a variety of brands, including Brooks Brothers, New Era, Eddie Bauer and Nike, according to its website.

“Whenever we look at a facility, of course we’re looking at logistics and the labor market, but we’re also really looking at the community and the culture, and the people who will be working in the building,” SanMar’s owner and president, Jeremy Lott, said in a statement. “When we came here, we knew right away that this is a place we wanted to be. As we met and talked with people in the area, we knew this could be a great fit for us and for our future growth. We couldn’t be more excited to be here — to fill up this building, to build our team here, and to make this a home for a really long time.”

SanMar’s new home in the 129-acre East Coast Commerce Center was developed by Equity Industrial Partners Corp. and Raith Capital Partners. The $100 million development is located about a mile north of Ashland and adjacent to Interstate 95.

Shelley Williams, SanMar’s vice president of marketing, told Virginia Business that the company began hiring in February for its Virginia location and has already hired 40 employees. The company expects to be fully operational in its new building within a year to 18 months and is continuing to build out racking and material handling systems. About half the 1,000 jobs will be in “pick and pack” operations, about a quarter will be forklift drivers and other equipment operators, and the remaining 25% will be leadership support, she said.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Hanover County and the Port of Virginia to secure the project for Virginia. The company is eligible to receive benefits from the Port of Virginia Economic and Infrastructure Development Zone Grant Program.