Posts Tagged “18 wheelers”
A new warehouse, plus plans to redevelop four central warehouses to meet wholesaler’s’ changing needs and re-route traffic around the market to allow for a more unobstructed flow of business, are among big changes being planned for the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market, according to the San Francisco Business Times.
Hopefully, the changes will improve making it easier for 18 wheelers to manuever when delivering refrigerated loads of fresh produce.
Serving nearly 30 wholesalers and distributors, the 300,000-square foot market in Bayview is bursting at the seams with generations of family-owned businesses that are picking up steam, new vendors entering the market and a few large companies that need to expand to keep up with demand. Collectively, they recorded $500 million in sales last year, the Times reports.
“We keep having to find more space for so many of the vendors,” said the market’s general manager Michael Jains. “I guess it’s a good problem to have, but we’re excited for what’s next.”
Janis and his team are gearing up to break ground on an adjacent 84,000-square-foot facility next month — the first phase of a $100 million renovation and expansion that will take shape over the next 10 years.
With help from the city, the project seeks to modernize and expand the market to 500,000 square feet, increasing merchant sales to a projected $737 million and growing the number of full-time workers to 1,000.
The project also calls for lighting and landscaping enhancements, as well as the creation of a “front door” entry point to make it easier for customers and visitors to enter and navigate the market.
According to Janis, the improvements are a needed to secure the long-term sustainability of the market, which plays an important role in the Bay Area’s food system by servicing most of the region’s restaurants, hotels, markets and grocery stores.