Maersk is set to open a new fulfillment hub in Massachusetts in late August aimed at expanding the logistics giant’s presence in the Northeastern U.S.

The container shipping company is investing $100 million into the fulfillment center, which is expected to create 1,000 jobs. The 617,000-square-foot facility, located in Hopedale, Mass., will serve an undisclosed single large-scale e-commerce customer and is expected to process up to 330,000 units per day at peak capacity.

Equipped with conveyor and sortation technology, the operation will support high-volume fulfillment and delivery across the northeast region to ensure speed, reliability and scalability during periods of peak demand.

The one-story warehouse includes 81 dock-high doors and four grade-level doors, featuring 36-foot clear heights and more than 200 trailer parking spaces.

“Companies today are increasingly looking for logistics partners that can help them position inventory closer to customers and respond to demand with greater speed and flexibility,” said Dave Hune, head of Maersk contract logistics North America, in a statement. “Our investment in Hopedale reflects continued customer demand for modern fulfillment capabilities and reinforces Maersk’s commitment to building resilient, scalable supply chains across North America.”

The facility is Maersk’s second location in Massachusetts, positioned roughly 40 miles southwest of Boston and 25 miles north of Providence, R.I. The ocean carrier operates a smaller, 49,000-square-foot warehouse in Peabody.

But the company’s presence in the New England region is otherwise scant, with Maersk running only one other warehouse in the area, a 42,200-square-foot site in Windsor, Conn.

Maersk’s northeastern presence is largely confined closer to the Port of New York & New Jersey, where it operates its largest East Coast terminal. The logistics firm runs 12 facilities in New Jersey and another three in New York.

The container shipping company leased the Hopedale facility from GFI Partners, with commercial real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield brokering the deal.

Lululemon debuts new fulfillment center in Canada

The move follows a recent fulfillment center opening from Lululemon last month that supports the athleticwear retailer’s e-commerce business across eastern Canada and the eastern U.S.

Lululemon’s newest facility in Bramton, Ontario spans 980,000 square feet, featuring an order fulfillment system from AutoStore implemented through a partnership with warehouse automation tech provider Element Logic. AutoStore specializes in automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS).

The AutoStore system consists of 292,000 storage bins and 525 R5 bin handling robots used for storage and fulfillment. The Brampton facility includes about 24,000 linear feet of material handling equipment and an overhead monorail transport system, alongside nearly five miles worth of conveyor belts.

According to the companies, the deployment is the largest such installation of AutoStore technology in Canada.

“This facility expands our fulfillment capabilities in Canada and the U.S., enabling us to better serve our guests and operate with greater speed and agility,” said Ted Dagnese, chief supply chain officer at Lululemon in a statement. “The opening represents collaboration across our operations, engineering, technology, facilities and supply chain teams, and reflects our commitment to innovation, operational excellence and creating new opportunities for our people as we build the future of our distribution network.”

Lululemon entered into the lease for the fulfillment center in 2022, which will expire in October 2039.

With the Brampton warehouse online, the athleisure seller now has eight distribution centers: five in Canada, two in the U.S. and one in Australia. Only the company’s Groveport, Ohio distribution center is owned, while the remaining facilities are leased.

Large-format warehouses are en vogue

Both Maersk and Lululemon’s new facilities come at a time when demand for large fulfillment centers is perking up.

Vacancy in buildings larger than 500,000 square feet has declined 300 basis points (3 percentage points) from its late-2024 peak to 8.1 percent in the second quarter of 2026, according to data from Cushman & Wakefield.

“On a year-to-date basis, newer buildings are seeing almost 140 million square feet of growth, and of that, almost half is concentrated in those newer 500,000 square foot facilities,” said Jason Price, senior director, Americas head of logistics and industrial research at Cushman & Wakefield.

Price said the growth in large-format facilities has been supported by corporate industrial users like third-party logistics providers (3PLs), manufacturers and e-commerce retailers.

“They’re upgrading to a larger consolidated footprint that can clear 36 to 40 feet in height, and offer higher power capacity to support AI systems and automation,” Price told Sourcing Journal. “That’s pushing both leasing and that absorption to be concentrated in newer buildings built this decade.”