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April 13, 2020 Deal Watch Today

Stop & Shop parent occupying Manchester distribution hub where it plans to add 700 jobs

HBJ Photos | Joe Cooper International food retailer Ahold Delhaize plans to create up to 700 new jobs at the Winstanley Logistics Hub in Manchester.
By Joe Cooper

The international food retailer that owns Stop & Shop and other supermarkets has launched its planned grocery distribution operation in a sprawling Manchester warehouse months ahead of schedule to accommodate a surge of deliveries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Netherlands-based food giant Ahold Delhaize earlier this month began occupying roughly 300,000 square feet of the 975,000-square-foot space it leased at the 2 million-square-foot distribution center, according to landlord Winstanley Enterprises.

Ahold late last year signed a 15-year lease for the space in the Winstanley Logistics Hub at 1339 Tolland Turnpike, as part of a $480-million investment to broaden its supply chain into a fully integrated, self-distribution model. The expansion, meant to improve delivery speed and streamline efficiencies, also included new purchases and leases of several warehouses in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions.

Adam Winstanley, principal of Mass.-based Winstanley Enterprises, told HBJ that Ahold wasn’t originally expecting to occupy the facility for another six months until it completed certain tenant-specific building improvements.

But that was months before grocers began to record a major increase of shoppers visiting stores and ordering online amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In an effort to meet demand, Ahold was able to access its space this month because Winstanley had already completed the first phase of renovations at a cost of $45 million.

Winstanley, which acquired the facility for $70 million in 2018, in recent months replaced the building’s roof and several surface parking lots on the property. Other improvements were made to loading docks, landscaping and new canopies, signs, sprinklers and mechanical systems were installed, among other upgrades. 

Winstanley Enterprises has replaced several surface parking lots at the massive Manchester distribution center.

Winstanley, Connecticut’s largest commercial landlord, plans to invest another $5 million to $7 million for additional paving and landscaping; improvements to offices, bathrooms and the front entrance of the property; and to upgrade the last vacant distribution space spanning 348,000 square feet, he said.

Ahold currently has about 50 workers at the distribution center, where it plans to create up to 700 new jobs by year-end, Winstanley said. Under its lease, Ahold has access to more than 70 loading docks, including 26 new bays, and will use its space to serve more than 100 Stop & Shop supermarkets in southern New England and New York state, Winstanley said.

The warehouse has also been designed for Ahold to serve its other supermarkets, including Food Lion and Hannaford, if needed, he said.

Ahold could not be reached for comment.

In summer 2018, J.C. Penney sold the distribution center to Winstanley and ceded about half of its space there, shrinking its footprint to about 650,000 square feet. 

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