Nov. 8—GRAND FORKS — An Amazon “mini” distribution center looks set to become operational in Grand Forks in the coming weeks.
The local delivery station, located in the former Herald printing press building at 1150 S. 46th St., will be one of Amazon’s “last-mile” distribution centers, often the last stop where customer orders are prepared for delivery.
The 1997 building, last occupied by LM Wind Power, is owned by Forum Communications Company, which owns the Herald. An FCC representative declined to discuss the lease or the occupant, citing an agreement with the tenant, and multiple local leaders said the Seattle-based internet retailer played its cards close to its chest when it moved to open a store in Grand Forks to set up.
An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the facility will be operational by the end of the year. A job posting posted in late October for a warehouse worker at an Amazon delivery station listed a start date of Nov. 22. The Herald heard about the development through the job posting.
Amazon appears to have been redecorating the interior of its warehouse space since the spring. City records show a series of interior improvement permits have been issued for the building, starting with a building permit issued April 12, and most recently a metal fabrication permit issued three weeks ago.
It will be the first time Amazon has had a physical presence in Grand Forks since it closed its local call center — here since shortly after the 1997 flood — in 2018. At the time, Amazon moved about 200 employees from a city company. space at 1550 S. 48th St. that it had occupied since 2016. Those employees were not laid off and were instead reassigned to remote positions, an Amazon spokesperson said
told the Herald
in 2018.
Keith Lund, president of the local Economic Development Corporation, said he is pleased to see Amazon returning to a physical presence in Grand Forks, and that the development will likely mean products are distributed more efficiently throughout the area.
“We are happy that they are investing in the region,” Lund said.
Notably, the delivery station is not the same as an Amazon fulfillment center, the massive warehouses that Amazon is known for. The nearest Amazon fulfillment center is in Fargo. The 1 million-square-foot Fargo warehouse became Amazon’s first fulfillment center in North Dakota in 2021.
Amazon was also building a delivery station in Minot and near Dickinson, both expected to open sometime this fall, the Minot Daily News reported in May. According to that report, Amazon’s first investment in the state was a delivery station in West Fargo that opened in 2021.
