Dayton distribution center set

WEBstaurant Store Inc., an online seller of restaurant equipment and supplies based in Lancaster, Pa., is hoping to expand its sales in the West with a new distribution and call center in Dayton.

“We do a fair amount of business on the West Coast, and we think we can grow it by shrinking transit time from four days to one and to cut shipping costs,” says Dave Groff, president of the nine-year-old merchant.

Miles Construction in Mound House is now refurbishing the 170,000-square-foot building WEBstaurant purchased on Airpark Boulevard. The company plans to start hiring 50 material handlers for the warehouse and customer service representatives for the call center in September and launch both operations by the start of 2014. Groff expects to eventually employ 100 at the site.

WEBstaurantStore.com carries 50,000 items, from commercial-sized ranges and refrigerators to coffee filters and plastic flatware.

The Dayton warehouse will join distribution centers in Pennsylvania and Kentucky.

WEBstaurant applied for and is expected to receive sales and property tax abatements as an incentive offered by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. Northern Nevada Development Authority assisted the company.

But Groff says the decision to locate in Dayton came down to the right logistics.

“We can get to the entire West Coast from there in one to two days,” he says.