Wal-Mart to open 2nd Fort Worth fulfillment center next year

Wal-Mart is completing work on its second Fort Worth online fulfillment center and plans to open the facility in the first quarter of next year, the retail giant said Wednesday.

The project was announced in November 2013, within months of Wal-Mart opening its first Fort Worth fulfillment center at 5300 Westport Parkway. Both projects received incentives from the city of Fort Worth.

The 1-million-square-foot facility is a little larger than first planned and is expected to bring 400 full-time jobs by the end of 2017, also more than initially planned, Wal-Mart said.

Hiring for the new facility should begin early in 2016, the retailer said. Applicants can apply online at www.walmart.com, through the careers link.

The new center, at 15101 N. Beach St., will fill online orders and ship them right to customers’ homes or their preferred Walmart store. It will focus on handling larger items, such as furniture, large electronics, patio sets, grills and other items, or anything that doesn’t fit in a bin, Wal-Mart said.

The Westport Parkway center, about seven miles south of the Beach Street building, will focus on smaller items, such as apparel, consumables and general merchandise, the retailer said. About 70 percent of the merchandise shipped from the center is only sold on Walmart.com.

The Westport Parkway facility has 600 employees. Another 1,000 temporary employees are being hired for the holiday season, the company said.

Wal-Mart leases both buildings from Hillwood Properties. The Westport Parkway building, at 788,000 square feet, is a former Motorola facility.

This story was originally published October 7, 2015 at 4:24 PM with the headline "Wal-Mart to open 2nd Fort Worth fulfillment center next year."