New Forest Park road leads to job gains at Kroger fulfillment center

Leaders from Forest Park and Kroger cut the ribbon on new Rateree Road at the Gillem Logistics Center.

Credit: Forest Park

Credit: Forest Park

Leaders from Forest Park and Kroger cut the ribbon on new Rateree Road at the Gillem Logistics Center.

Grocery giant Kroger expects to triple its workforce at its fulfillment center in Forest Park as a result of a new road.

The Clayton County city on Thursday cut the ribbon on Rateree Road, a new street leading to the fulfillment’s home at Gillem Logistics Center. Kroger says because of the road, hundreds of the company’s home-delivery vans will have better access to Forest Parkway, I-75 and I-285 and be able to provide delivery service to customers who live within 90 minutes of the facility.

“Kroger is committed to increasing market share in the e-commerce space through our home delivery modality,” David Matthews, general manager of the fulfillment, said. “We are thankful for the improvements the city is making, which allows us to drive last mile efficiency to better serve our customers.”

The company said the road improvement will allow it to create an additional 410 new jobs with an average salary of $52,000. The fulfillment facility currently employs nearly 200 full-time and part-time workers.

“Our city is known as a major logistics center for a variety of different industries, and we continue to seek ways to expand our regional, national and international presence with the goal of creating high-wage jobs,” Forest Park Mayor Angelyne Butler said.