Fidelitone finds a new home at The Park

Third-party logistics provider Fidelitone’s move into a new warehouse that’s 340 percent larger than its initial space in Northern Nevada positions the company to earn new business and better serve existing customers.

Tabitha Thornhill, Fidelitone’s vice president of corporate real estate, told NNBW that the company’s upgrade into Class A distribution space at The Park at McCarran was a necessary move. Privately held Fidelitone, which got its start back in 1929 making record needles for phonographs, provides specialized supply chain solutions for inbound logistics, order fulfillment, last-mile delivery and service parts management. The Reno fulfillment center provides direct-to-consumer and business-to-business retail fulfillment across a range of industries, including health and wellness, beauty and personal care, and pet care, Thornhill said.

“In this particular building, the thing that helped with layout and capacity is that we went from a building that had very low clear heights — part of the building was 24 to 28 feet, and we jumped up to 36 feet in clear height. I can rack up higher, which doubles my capacity just in racking.

“The layout of the floor plan is much simpler and easier,” Thornhill added. “I am able to get a lot more product in the building, even with an expanded conveyor-line system. We also had very limited dock space in our prior building; now, we have great dock space.”

The new facility is the company’s third location since arriving in Northern Nevada in 2009, Thornhill said. Fidelitone entered the market by leasing about 25,000 square feet, expanded into just under 50,000 square feet a few years later, and quickly outgrew that space as well.

Tabitha Thornhill

 

“Our continued growth with existing and new customers positioned us for this new building,” she said. “With retail and ecommerce growing across the board, we are fortunate to have a facility in Reno.”

Chicago-based Fidelitone has expanded in other markets as well. It operates more than 20 facilities in strategic locations throughout the country, with new operations recently opening in Phoenix, Raleigh, N.C. and Virginia Beach, Va.

“We have had growth across the country this year,” Thornhill said.

Thornhill said she began scouting for a new Northern Nevada location late last year, and worked directly with The Park at McCarran developer Dermody Properties/Locus Development Group to secure the new warehouse space.

“It was great, because we got in when the walls were being tilted, so I was able to kind of put our Fidelitone fingerprint on what the warehouse and office space looked like with all of our signage.

“It was a great experience,” she added. “All the permitting and all the other things you have to go through with new facilities and new development was super easy in Reno. It made it a pleasure to work in Reno because the municipality was so open and willing to work with us to get into this space.”

General contractor United Construction, which erected all five buildings at The Park at McCarran, helped Fidelitone complete its interior tenant improvements, Thornhill said. The larger warehouse allows Fidelitone to provide 3PL services for multiple new clients, since there’s still floor and racking space available in the facility to accommodate new business, she added.

The existing Fidelitone team, including all managers and supervisors, transitioned to the new warehouse, and the company has already added several new employees, Thornhill said. Bob Hilberg is the general manager of Fidelitone’s new Reno facility.

“It’s a good thing when the staff moves with you — they know the business, and they know the customers,” she said.