Burris Logistics expands operations to Midwest

UNSPLASHED/ RUCHINDRA GUNASEKARA

MILFORD — Burris Logistics is expanding its shipping operations to the Midwest after purchasing a warehouse in the greater Milwaukee area.

Burris Logistics bought the 177,000-square-foot warehouse in Waukesha, Wis., for $10 million from U.S. Foods, according to the Milwaukee Business Journal. The facility, which has 100,000 square feet of temperature-controlled warehousing, was chosen to expand the Milford company’s two-day shipping to customers beyond the East Coast.

“Our e-commerce partners require one- to two-day parcel shipping times to deliver their subscription food and other products safely and with the utmost quality,” Burris Logistics Senior Vice President of Business Development Nick Falk said in a statement. “Waukesha enables us to easily reach our partner’s customer base in densely populated communities like Chicago, and Milwaukee, and as far as Denver, and Fort Worth, Texas.”

Burris Logistics plans to immediately hire 30 to 40 employees when the Waukesha facility starts to come online in August, according to Burris Logistics Vice President of Marketing Bobby Bailey. When fully operational, the warehouse will need upward of 100 warehouse staff and administrative team members.

With the Waukesha warehouse, Burris Logistics will be able to deliver frozen foods in the Chicago and Milwaukee area within a two-day window, making it able to compete with other delivery programs. Temperature control in the warehouse allows Burris Logistics to store products as low as 20 degrees below zero.

The remaining 67,000 square feet of dry storage will be for products beyond food, beverage and floral.

“We currently service retail and e-commerce partners who ship specialty frozen meats, produce, packaged meals, and specialty grocery,” Bailey told the Delaware Business Times. “Dry storage would allow us to fulfill anything that only needed ambient temperature storage. The possibilities are endless.”

Founded in 1925 and headquartered in Milford, Burris Logistics runs a network of temperature-controlled warehouse and distribution centers stretching from Connecticut to Florida and as far west as Oklahoma. The company is a fifth-generation, family-owned enterprise that also runs food redistribution company Honor Foods, Burris Custom Distribution, Burris PRW Plus, and freight brokerage firm Trinity Logistics. 

Burris Logistics’ net value is estimated at $300 million and it employs roughly 2,100 employees across the east coast and Oklahoma City. The Delaware workforce consists of approximately 250 people.

Specific to the Delaware region, Burris has warehouses in New Castle, Harrington, Philadelphia and neighboring Elkton, Md. Trinity Logistics has a regional center in Seaford.

With a new warehouse in Wisconsin, Burris Logistics may have opportunities to tap further into the e-commerce boom fueled by the pandemic. Bailey said that the company’s growth strategy is focused on “partner need and reach to consumers across the country” for e-commerce programs. 

“We remain focused on expanding our capabilities as a premier e-commerce fulfillment company, and part of that includes increasing our capacity and reach to consumer homes,” he said.