#Chicago warehouse space for lease

[annamaet1]

Chicago Warehouse Space for Lease- Find the Perfect Fit for Your Business

Chicago, a hub for commerce and logistics in the United States, offers a dynamic and diverse market for businesses seeking warehouse space. Whether you're in retail, manufacturing, e-commerce, or distribution, leasing a warehouse in Chicago can provide a strategic advantage. With its central location, robust transportation network, and growing business community, the city is a top choice for companies looking to expand or streamline their operations. Here's what you need to know about finding the ideal Chicago warehouse space for lease.

Why Choose Chicago for Your Warehouse Needs?

1. Strategic Location: Situated in the heart of the Midwest, Chicago serves as a vital logistics hub, offering easy access to major cities across the country. Its proximity to highways, railways, and airports ensures smooth movement of goods, making it ideal for businesses reliant on efficient transportation.

2. Thriving Business Ecosystem: Chicago is home to a wide range of industries, from manufacturing to technology and e-commerce. This diverse business environment fosters opportunities for partnerships, collaborations, and market expansion.

3. Robust Infrastructure: The city boasts world-class infrastructure, including access to O'Hare International Airport, one of the busiest cargo airports in the world, and the Port of Chicago, which connects businesses to international markets.

Types of Warehouse Spaces Available

Chicago offers a variety of warehouse options to suit different business needs:

Distribution Centers: Designed for businesses focused on logistics and supply chain operations. These spaces are equipped with features like high ceilings, dock doors, and proximity to transportation hubs.

Cold Storage Facilities: Ideal for companies in the food and pharmaceutical industries requiring temperature-controlled environments.

Light Industrial Spaces: Suitable for manufacturing or assembly operations, often with office space included.

Flex Spaces: A combination of warehouse and office space, perfect for startups and small businesses.

Key Considerations When Leasing a Warehouse

1. Location: Proximity to your customers, suppliers, and transportation routes is critical. Chicago's neighborhoods, such as the West Loop, South Side, and suburbs like Elk Grove Village, each offer unique advantages.

2. Space Requirements: Evaluate your operational needs, including square footage, storage capacity, and special features like loading docks or climate control.

3. Lease Terms: Understand the lease terms, including duration, rental costs, maintenance responsibilities, and any additional fees. Negotiate terms that align with your business goals.

4. Accessibility: Ensure the warehouse is accessible to trucks and delivery vehicles, with ample parking and loading areas.

5. Future Growth: Plan for scalability. Choose a space that can accommodate your business’s growth without requiring frequent relocations.

Popular Chicago Locations for Warehouses

1. Near Downtown Chicago: Convenient for businesses needing proximity to the city center. Ideal for last-mile delivery services and retail operations.

2. Industrial Corridors: Neighborhoods like the West Side and South Side feature established industrial zones with ample warehouse options.

3. Suburban Markets: Areas like Elk Grove Village and Schaumburg offer larger warehouse spaces with lower costs compared to downtown. These locations are perfect for large-scale distribution centers.

Final Thoughts

Leasing a warehouse space in Chicago can be a transformative decision for your business. With its central location, thriving economy, and flexible options, the city provides a fertile ground for growth and success. Work with a trusted real estate agent or commercial property specialist to navigate the market and secure the best deal.

By understanding your needs and thoroughly researching the available options, you can find a Chicago warehouse space for lease that perfectly aligns with your business objectives. Whether you're expanding operations or launching a new venture, Chicago's warehouse market is ready to support your vision.

[christianniro21]

Industrial Warehouse for Sale Chicago

Looking for prime industrial space in Chicago or Los Angeles? Discover the ideal Industrial Warehouse for Sale in Chicago that meets your business needs. Whether you're expanding your operations or relocating, we offer a wide range of options, from Empty Warehouses for Sale in Chicago to Industrial Spaces for Lease in Chicago. Our listings include top-notch facilities designed to accommodate various industries. If you're exploring opportunities on the West Coast, we also have Warehouses for Sale in Los Angeles and Warehouses for Lease in Los Angeles. Each location is strategically positioned to provide easy access to major transportation hubs, ensuring seamless logistics and efficient operations. Visit Warehouse Finder today to find the perfect space to elevate your business in Chicago or Los Angeles.For More info please visit our website - https://warehousefinder.net/metro/chicago/warehouse-industrial-space-for-sale/

[internationalrealestatenews]

[ad_1] Competitors to grow to be Austin’s subsequent scorching neighborhood is all the time fierce, however in 2015, St. Elmo appeared prepared to grab the crown. About three miles south of Woman Hen Lake, St. Elmo was well-positioned between downtown Austin and the booming suburbs to the south. It blended cutesy previous houses with shabby-chic warehouses prepared for conversion into inventive places of work and breweries. By way of a mixture of improvement and conversions, builders noticed a technique to construct a vacation spot neighborhood on these sturdy bones.  The centerpiece could be St. Elmo Public Market. GroundFloor Improvement, together with companions together with Carlin Firm and Fenix International Investments, deliberate to construct a 42,000-square-foot bazaar at 4329 South Congress Avenue, modeled after Seattle’s Pike Place Market.  It promised to deliver an all-star lineup of native eating places to the center of a large mixed-use improvement with resort, workplace and residential house. It will be a catalyst, the kind of place that establishes a neighborhood and spurs much more improvement round it.  However after the builders introduced the market in 2015, they delayed it. Then they delayed it once more and once more. Between 2016 and 2019, furthermore, the principals of GroundFloor had been embroiled in a lawsuit accusing one another of wrongful termination and embezzlement, respectively. By 2019, all of the related events had settled, simply in time for the pandemic to throw markets right into a tailspin.  There comes a time in each gentrifying neighborhood’s life when it will get an arcade bar. (Williamsburg, Brooklyn opened a Barcade in 2004. Pilsen, a classy Chicago neighborhood, fought towards a Headquarters Beercade in 2021.) After eight years of hype, that point has come for St. Elmo.  Actual property funding agency SomeraRoad purchased the constructing final yr and leased it to a duckpin bowling bar.  Whereas not the neighborhood anchor that the general public market might have been, this bar is nonetheless a step ahead for the neighborhood’s retail and eating scene. It’s a part of a a lot bigger push by builders who've land banked and plans underway to lastly flip St. Elmo into a real live-work–play neighborhood, after practically a decade within the highlight. St. Elmo’s dominant improvement is the Yard. It’s a sprawling assortment of warehouses totaling 200,000 sq. toes of producing and retail house. The tenant combine leans bubbly: in a single strip, tenants embody the Austin Vineyard, Austin Cocktails, Blue Norther Exhausting Seltzer, Texas Saké Firm, Nonetheless Austin Whiskey and St. Elmo Brewing Firm.  Nonetheless, the Yard has loads of non-alcoholic tenants. Icon, the development expertise firm main the best way in 3D-printed houses, relies out of an enormous constructing there and operates a analysis and improvement unit there too. There’s additionally a health club, a espresso roaster and a flock of meals vans.  The Yard was developed by Veloway Threads, an organization based by Adam Zimmerman and Merrick and Scott Ungar. It's maybe the biggest proprietor of St. Elmo improvement websites. In January, the corporate introduced that it had bought fourteen properties within the space within the final yr.  Priscilla Sauceda, an operations government with the developer, stated it was drawn to the neighborhood’s flexibility and the “character and attraction” of the warehouses.  “We examine the final word imaginative and prescient to Wynwood in Miami,” Sauceda stated, referring to the colourful, mural-laden neighborhood recognized for its galleries and purchasing.  The corporate has not performed a lot ground-up residential improvement, and is essentially centered on industrial work. It might promote or deliver on a companion to develop some land it owns that's mixed-use residential, in keeping with Sauceda.  For all the event of the Yard, a lot of St. Elmo nonetheless feels industrial, not warehouse-chic. 

“There’s been a bit of little bit of a stutter-start feeling, for those who ask the common individual in regards to the space,” Sauceda stated. “There are some individuals who nonetheless don’t know what a part of city that is in.” However Veloway Threads expects that to alter quickly. The corporate plans to complete out its imaginative and prescient for the neighborhood inside the subsequent 5 years.  One of many greatest tasks set to alter that id is the Bergstrom Spur Path, which can pedestrianize 6.5 miles of former railroad connecting South Congress Avenue to Austin Bergstrom Airport.  A stretch of that path will run immediately alongside the north finish of St. Elmo close to Industrial Boulevard, significantly bettering the walkability and improvement worth of a stretch of warehouses owned by Connecticut and Austin-based Leifer Properties.  “It has the bones to be a walkable neighborhood,” stated Max Leifer, a principal on the agency. “We like that it type of has confined geographic borders, and might’t actually sprawl out.” In contrast to different neighborhoods in Austin which have constantly sprawled, St. Elmo is penned in by Freeway 290, Interstate 35 and South Congress Avenue, encouraging builders to construct up slightly than out.  As Austin grows, some metropolis officers and activists are pushing for larger density, to blended success. With citywide reforms slowed down in course of, builders have moved to implement a few of those self same urbanist ideas on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood foundation. These tasks, just like the Area in north Austin, have highlighted a extra scattered strategy to density. “Town has grown a lot that not everyone needs to go all the best way into downtown anymore,” Sauceda stated. “So how can we create these hubs and little pockets elsewhere within the metropolis that cater to the oldsters which might be positioned nearer to these areas?” Leifer is within the technique of securing rezonings for warehouses it owns at 300-440 Industrial Boulevard and 560-600 Industrial Boulevard. It plans mixed-use developments with as much as 1,000 residences, retail house and places of work, Leifer stated. On the identical time, Redcar Properties is working to attain a mixed-use rezoning for a small purchasing middle it owns at 4201 South Congress Avenue.  Exterior of some notable house buildings, a lot of the housing within the St. Elmo space is single-family indifferent houses.  That's altering, albeit slower than some envisioned. Bishop Momo, United Properties’ multifamily improvement at 4341 South Congress Avenue, will deliver 274 residences to the neighborhood when it’s completed later this yr. It joins a handful of different house buildings on the South Congress aspect of the neighborhood, together with 44 South and Congress Lofts. “The neighborhood was virtually constructed on what would have been the general public market,” Leifer stated, noting it’s one of many causes his agency began shopping for there. Regardless of the lack of that venture, he nonetheless sees modifications coming.  “In only one or two years, the neighborhood goes to be solely totally different.” Learn extra [ad_2] Supply hyperlink

[egalogistics]

How Does A Warehousing Company in Indianapolis Outperform In-House Fulfillment?

The e-commerce landscape continues to evolve. It is changing rapidly as customers’ needs are also changing. It is no wonder many businesses constantly look for ways to maximize their efficiency while also reducing their overall costs. One aspect you can look into is 3PL warehousing in Indianapolis.

3PL Warehousing Indianapolis to Revolutionize Your Fulfillment Strategy Indianapolis is strategically located at the crossroads of major highways and railways. Thus, it is an ideal hub for distribution and logistics. Its proximity to major cities like Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Detroit allows for efficient transportation of goods throughout the Midwest. If you partner with a 3PL company, like EGA Logistics, we can help you access this hub quickly and more efficiently.

Scalability and Flexibility One of the benefits of 3PL warehousing is the scalability and flexibility it offers. Your business may experience significant variations in demand throughout the year. For instance, if you have a toy company, you may encounter a surge in orders leading up to the holiday season. In such cases, partnering with a 3PL provider allows you to expand or contract your warehousing space and workforce as needed.

When demand spikes during the holiday rush, the provider can quickly allocate additional space and labor to ensure orders are processed efficiently. Conversely, during slower seasons, you can scale down your operations, avoiding unnecessary overhead costs.

Rapid Business Growth As your business expands, your warehousing and distribution needs evolve accordingly. Traditional warehousing arrangements, like leasing or owning your own space, may not offer the agility required to accommodate this growth. 3PL warehousing allows you to seamlessly scale your operations to match your business’s growth trajectory. Whether you are adding new product lines, entering new markets, or experiencing increased demand, your provider can adapt by providing additional storage capacity, workforce, and resources.

Cost Efficiency Flexibility in warehousing space and resources translates into cost efficiency. With a provider, you don’t have to commit to a fixed amount of warehouse space year-round, which can be costly. Instead, you pay for the space and services you use. This “pay-as-you-go” model optimizes your budget, ensuring that you allocate resources efficiently and avoid unnecessary expenses during periods of lower demand.

Operational Agility In today’s fast-paced business environment, the ability to quickly respond to market changes and customer expectations is paramount. A 3PL provider can act as an extension of your supply chain team, offering real-time adjustments to meet your needs. Whether you need to reroute inventory, adjust staffing levels, or reconfigure processes, the flexibility provided by the 3PL enables you to maintain operational agility and stay competitive.

Risk Mitigation By relying on a 3PL provider’s expertise and infrastructure, you mitigate the risks associated with managing your own warehousing and logistics. In the face of unforeseen challenges or disruptions, such as natural disasters or supply chain disruptions, a 3PL provider can swiftly implement contingency plans and adapt to changing circumstances, safeguarding your business continuity.

Take Advantage of These Benefits By outsourcing your warehousing in Indianapolis to a 3PL provider, your business can focus on its core competencies, such as product development, marketing, and customer engagement. This strategic shift can lead to improved innovation, customer relationships, and overall competitiveness. Call us today to learn more about how we can help you scale your business.

[zoey01martinez]

Crucial Advantages Associated With Outsourcing Order Fulfillment

A fundamental aspect of running a business involves mastering the art of delegation. Let's face it, attempting to handle everything on our own is an endeavour bound to limitations. This reality holds particularly true when it comes to order fulfilment, an aspect of e-commerce that is both challenging and time-intensive.

However, surrendering certain responsibilities is crucial. It not only liberates your precious time but also empowers you to concentrate on the expansion of your retail enterprise. It can indeed be challenging to entrust others with tasks related to your "brainchild," fearing they may not approach it with the same fervour as you do. Budget constraints may also pose a concern.

However, outsourcing fulfilment has the potential to foster business growth and, over time, result in substantial cost savings. A third-party fulfilment centre Chicago operates as an external warehouse responsible for overseeing your inventory and efficiently delivering orders to your customers. Outsourcing order fulfilment offers numerous advantages that go beyond just relieving you of that specific task.

For a business to thrive, it must consistently meet its customers' demands and live up to their expectations. In the realm of order fulfillment, customer expectations are particularly lofty. Late deliveries, missing items, or incorrect shipments are all guaranteed methods to displease your customers, potentially leading to their disengagement. This underscores the significance of executing order fulfillment flawlessly.

To provide you with a clearer perspective on the benefits, here's a breakdown of a few crucial advantages associated with outsourcing fulfillment services to a third-party fulfillment center in Chicago.

Crucial Advantages Associated with Hiring Third-Party E-commerce Order Fulfillment Company

Stabilize Your Sale Fluctuations: Many 3rd party outsourcing fulfillment companies offer flexible pricing. When you are going through a slow or rapid growth period, they will adaptably handle your needs. During the sale fluctuation period, hiring more in-house staff, purchasing extra equipment, and leasing more warehouse space will result in an excess of resources once you overcome the fluctuation. An order warehousing New York company will keep all of this regulated, keeping you free to concentrate on other important tasks.

Be more effective: Hiring a warehousing NY company can help manage your inventory, dispatch orders, and regulate your logistics, you can be confident that everything will run smoothly. This enables you to concentrate on your core activities—growing your business and delivering exceptional customer service.

Cost Savings: Partnering with an outsourcing company can yield long-term cost savings. Their economies of scale allow you to benefit from reduced logistics expenses. Outsourcing fulfillment also permits the elimination of overhead costs, as you share space and resources with numerous other sellers.

Safeguard Your Brand Reputation: Ensuring outstanding products and after-sales service is crucial. This is a central advantage of utilizing the services of third-party e-commerce order fulfillment companies. With fulfillment services, your inventory is professionally managed, and shipments are handled promptly, minimizing the risks of incomplete orders or delayed deliveries.

Additionally, warehousing NY service providers enable you to allocate more time and effort to your core business. They possess the expertise and manpower to navigate sudden increases in sales and offer potential long-term cost savings.

[lyrelyretheresmeninthathorse]

Momento - Part 2

Summary: After destroying the red room and returning from the blip, Yelena turns her focus to finding you. You, unwilling to let the memory of your oldest friend die, leave a trail of momentos in your wake for her to follow.

A/N: Thanks for all the love guys, please let me know what you think!

Masterlist | Requests

Part One

The red room had fallen, finally. Torn down from its looming spectral position in the sky and torn viciously apart as it surrendered to the relentless pull of gravity. A sweet relief of revenge had flooded Yelena as the metal had crashed and screeched in its destruction. The others were freed, the girls and women escaping their predetermined fate and finding a new freedom of choices that had been stolen from them.

It was wonderful, really, their victory against all odds. And yet, Yelena felt unsatisfied.

The job itself had been tough, planned to the millisecond and leaving no room for Yelena to break from the mission and find you. She had wanted to, needed to really, find and reconnect with the person who had supported her through everything. Her survival meant little to her without the people she loved; her family. You were a part of that family, even if you could not remember her yet. Doing her duty, knowing you would do the same in her position, she ignored the desperate urge to find you and did her part in permanently dismantling the red room.

And now it was over. The red room was no more and, somehow, Yelena had still lost even more. Returning from the blip, that impossibly vast expanse of time that had felt like seconds, Yelena had lost years and Yelena had lost her sister. Yelena’s plan had always been to find you, the blip interrupting her before she could even finds a place to start, but the loss of Natasha only made her more desperately reckless in her search for you. For companionship.

It had been tough. Even without the five years you may have lived whilst Yelena was ‘away’ she knew you would be more than skilled at hiding your tracks. If you didn’t want to be found, it would be near impossible to find you.

Except, you wanted to be found. Yelena knew this because she had been pleasantly surprised to find you had left her an expanse of clues. A trail of identifying marks. A business card for a cafe you briefly worked in, the short-term lease agreement you left at an apartment you used to rent, and an almost blank postcard you had left in an abandoned house you briefly squatted in; all marked with the same lopsided flower that forever adorned Yelena’s wrist.

Despite months of seeing nothing but this lopsided flower in lieu of you, Yelena did not entirely lose hope. She must be getting closer, she must be.

And, as it turned out, she was.

It was just after midnight in Chicago. The sounds of the city were distant but echoed through the empty air like remnants of another world. This district had been abandoned, it seemed. Business crashing during the blip and never quite making a recovery. Empty warehouses provided both the shelter and solitude you would prefer were you unsure who may be after you.

Your last flower, scribbled onto a torn dollar bill had also included the symbol for wind that weathermen often employed and a dark blue splodge. Trusting her instincts with your notes had always worked well, it seemed you more than understood how Yelena’s mind worked, and so immediately she took off for the Windy City. What the splash of blue had meant, however, she hadn’t known. Until now.

There were countless warehouses in this district but she were certain the blue would hold a meaning. When she stopped before a warehouse with a dark blue flag waving floppily from a flickering streetlamp out front, Yelena held her breath. Holding the dollar bill crumpled in her fist, she stepped through the large steel doors.

In this vast empty spaces her steps echoed all around her, bouncing from every unadorned wall to surround her in her own hesitant steps. She were looking for another clue, another scrap of paper for her to pore over and helplessly follow to your next location. But, there was nothing here.

A frown pulled her lips downwards as her shoulders deflated; what else could your note have meant? Where else in the world could you be?

Another pair of footsteps echoed around her, hastier than hers had been and heavier in their approach. Caution taking over, Yelena immediately ducked into a crouch and raised a gun to her attacker.

Except, it wasn’t an attacker, it was you. You, with eyes wide and hands raised in surrender even as you tried for a smile at her. When she gave no response except for a blank stare, slow blinks, and a stuttered breath, you giggled. Unsure how else to really react, the relief of seeing you again a little overwhelming after these hopeless months of chasing you, she broke into a snigger of her own. This lightness that you shared with one another cut through any awkwardness or uncertainty that may have otherwise overshadowed this bright reunion.

The laughter, as though it were magnetic, worked to pull you closer to one another. With words yet to be exchanged, you embraced each other. Chin resting against your shoulder, Yelena closed her eyes and continued to laugh even as tears sprang from her eyes.

After minutes that stretched like hours, she pulled back, gripped your arms, and spoke through the hoarseness of her throat. “You’re alive.”

You raised a hand, using a delicate fingertip to wipe away a stray tear, and nodded. “So are you,” you responded, voice far away as though you were making some wondrous epiphany.

Yelena wondered over so many questions; who had freed your mind from its slavery to the red room? How long had you been freed? Was it merely your paranoia pushing you to run from every shadow that lingered for too long? Or were you entrenched in some new darkness that she could help you escape?

You, also, had a plethora of questions fighting to escape you; how long had Yelena remained ensnared by the red room? Had she found her sister, who she spoke of so very often? Had she disappeared like so many others all those years ago or had she been following your clues for all the years you had been leaving them?

It had been so long that you had all but given up on her finding you. You had begun to leave the notes as more a ritual in her honour, reminding yourself that your one true friend had been real and deserved to be remembered no matter where she had ended up.

But here she was after all these years.

The pair of you remained gormless in your shocked relief for a brief while before your excitement got the better of you and your face split into a beaming grin.

Rushing forward again, you crushed her into a more aggressively friendly embrace than the first. “I missed you so much!”

She returned your likely overzealous embrace with similar zeal and nodded with a small sob. “I’ve got so much to tell you.”

[ex-vengeancedemon]

Averting Disasters and Other Ways to Avoid Your Problems

Chapter 3

Characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Mentions of things that occurred in Angel: The Series season 5.

Main Pairing: Buffy x Spike

Characters: Buffy, Spike, Giles, Willow, Xander, Andrew, Faith, Dawn

Summary: Set in 2008, five years after Spike’s resurrection at Wolfram & Hart. Buffy is living in Cleveland guarding the hellmouth. Spike has left Angel and company and is hiding out in Chicago. The Scoobies are scattered. When something starts going wrong with the slayers around the world, it’s time to get the gang back together.

Masterlist & Chapter 1

Chapter 3

Cleveland, Ohio 

Spike and Andrew arrived in Cleveland shortly before sunup, much to Spike's relief. Andrew was a bit of an erratic driver and if Spike wasn't already dead, he might have bothered to fear for his life. He had never been to Cleveland before. Never had a reason to. Sure there was a hellmouth, but why would anyone choose it over California? Ohio was a flyover state for a reason. What'd they even have in Ohio? Corn?

Andrew parked the car outside of what looked to be an abandoned warehouse in the industrial district on the outskirts of the city. The windows were all dark and Spike couldn't hear or see a soul around. There was a faint scent of iron in the air that smelled almost like blood, but Spike could tell it was actually emanating from the slowly corroding metal walls of the warehouse. Unlike Spike, the building wasn't timeless. He raised an eyebrow at Andrew, but the eccentric Watcher-in-training was already jumping out of the car. Spike followed after him, only hesitating for a moment. Could barely be called hesitation really. Just... taking a breath. That he didn't really need. Bugger it. It's not like Andrew noticed.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to off me," Spike commented as he looked over at the group of motionless cranes dangling equipment that likely violated several OSHA regulations.

Andrew laughed with a grating kind of chortle that for a second brought Spike back to a different time. At Buffy's house, back when they were still at war with The First. He waved off the memory. No point in getting all sentimental. What's done is done and over.

"No silly," Andrew replied. "This is where Willow said to meet."

"Nice digs. Perfect spot for a demon."

Andrew rolled his eyes at the quip and opened the rusting metal door, motioning for Spike to enter. Spike eyed the door, surprised it hadn't crashed down off its tracks. 

"Alright then," Spike said as he walked into the darkness. No point in arguing. 

Inside, the warehouse was completely empty except for the heavy coating of dirt covering the spalling concrete floor...and a strange rectangular pool of what looked like liquid silver situated at its center. Andrew's footsteps echoed behind him in the cavernous space as Spike moved to get a better look at the curious centerpiece. Despite the lack of light, the silver pool seemed to shimmer and emitted a faint glow. Probably radiation. Spike took a couple of steps back from the man-sized pool. 

"Now hold up a minute," he said, turning on Andrew. "Pretty sure the mercury baths went out of style." He held a finger up for emphasis. "And, if memory serves, Xander was the one with the syphilis problem."

Andrew ignored him and walked to the edge of the pool. "It's a portal. You coming or are you just gonna stand there?"

With that, Andrew stepped off the ledge and disappeared beneath the surface of silver. Spike stared after him. 

"Right, quick trip to hell. Was getting bored anyway. Well, if that git can do it," Spike muttered.

He ran after him and leapt into the pool. For some reason he had expected it to burn, like molten lava. Instead, he felt absolutely nothing, not even as his head sunk under the waves. And then everything was unnaturally bright.

Spike winced away before realizing it wasn't the sun, just orbs of floating white light scattered throughout the sizable room. He recognized the type. This was a magic shop. A multi-dimensional magic shop. 

The shop was quiet despite its size and selection. Spike recognized more than a few rare items that would fetch quite the price on the black market... if one was into that sort of thing. The shelves were fully stocked with spell books, grimoires, various herbs, crystals, and other magical curios. It made the old Sunnydale magic shop look like the kiddie leagues. 

Sitting at a long oval table in the center of the room was Willow, dressed in clothes that looked a day old with a cold cup of coffee sitting next to her. The red-headed witch was surrounded by books scattered around her on both the table and the floor. She didn't even look up at their arrival. It seemed that - apart from Spike and Andrew - she was the only one in the shop. 

"Hey Willow," Andrew said, giving her a little wave. "I got Spike."

Willow looked up from a particularly thick tome covered in a language Spike didn't recognize. She gave a small smile that did nothing to hide the worry on her face or the exhaustion in her eyes.

"Hey guys," she said. "Good to have you on the team."

"Any luck so far?" Andrew asked.

Willow shook her head. "Nothing. There's nothing about mass memory loss in slayers. Of course, there have never been multiple slayers before so. You know, we're back in uncharted territory."

Spike cut in hesitantly, "And Buffy?"

He thought he caught an odd expression cross Willow's face, but it had been a while since he'd seen her. Maybe it was normal.

"I still haven't been able to reach her," Willow replied. "I just got here last night. Called in a favor to a friend and got us a lease on this magic shop 'til we figure out what's going on. I'm hoping Giles will know more."

"Well we should go check on her then!" Spike said, throwing up a hand. "Slayer wandering around out of her head? It's a death sentence."

Willow pursed her lips and glanced over at Andrew uneasily. "We can't. Or...well we're not sure we should. It's not just memory loss."

She paused and Spike began to get more and more agitated. There was something they hadn't been telling him. Something bad.

"During the blackouts," Willow continued, "you know, the times they can't remember? Well, we think that there's someone...else. Someone else is controlling their actions, it's almost like they're possessed. But whatever is doing it-"

"It's a scary good copy," Andrew blurted out.

Willow nodded. "It knows about their lives, how they act, their friends. It even goes on doing the regular day-to-day slayage duties. But we've noticed some things are just a bit...off."

"What do you mean, off?" Spike pressed.

"Well...one of 'em did try killing Angel a few days back," Andrew replied. "They had been working together temporarily and apparently she just snapped one day."

"Well I don't see the problem there," Spike said with a grin.

"Another one didn't recognize her parents when they came for a visit," Willow added. "She hadn't seen them since becoming a slayer and just nothing. Freaked them right out. But she remembered everyone else, insisted they weren't her family though."

"Okay, yeah, a bit odd," Spike conceded.

"And then, two days ago, Giles was training with one of the London slayers when her fighting style switched from streetfighter novice to jujitsu master in the span of a minute." Willow sighed. "And that's when I did a revealing spell. There were was something in her that wasn't her. We don't even know when we're talking with the real person...or the other. Whatever it is."

"And that's why you haven't contacted Buffy," Spike stated.

Willow nodded. "We don't want to spook...it."

"Yeah who knows, it could run off to Timbuktu with Buffy's body," Andrew agreed with a vigorous nod.

"Andrew, could you get me some cannis root from the back storage?" Willow asked him. "I need to do a translation spell."

"Sure, of course!" Andrew replied as he scampered off behind the rows of shelves.

Spike pulled out a chair and took a seat next to Willow at the table without speaking.

"It's good to see you, Spike," Willow said without smiling. "I just wish you would've told us before disaster struck again."

"Yeah." He nodded slowly. "Well, being back in the land of the living has been one should've after another I suppose." He fumbled the pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit one up with a flick from his lighter. "Do you think-"

"I don't know if she'll be glad to see you," Willow said, answering the unspoken question. "I don't know."

"Right."

Spike sighed as he exhaled a cloud of smoke. Andrew returned with a large jar of what looked like...well, roots. Willow took it from him and set the jar aside without opening it. It seemed the cannis root had just been a task to keep Andrew busy. Spike wasn't surprised. Andrew took a seat at the table and began perusing through some of the scattered books. Spike watched as the two continued their research. It wasn't really his forte. 

What felt like hours later - though he knew it had only been minutes - Spike heard the sound of footsteps behind him. Familiar tread. Instant irritation. Bollocks.

"No. Oh, no. No, no, no, no. No way. What the hell is he doing here?" Xander exclaimed as he squinted in the light.

[coopdigitalnewsletter]

8 Oct 2019: The AI will interview you now. Uber work. Amazon rumours. Facebook leak.

Hello, this is the Co-op Digital newsletter - it looks at what's happening in the internet/digital world and how it's relevant to the Co-op, to retail businesses, and most importantly to people, communities and society. Thank you for reading - send ideas and feedback to @rod on Twitter. Please tell a friend about it!

[Image: Bladerunner fandom]

The AI will interview you now

Face recognition technology and AI is being used in job interviews in the UK “to identify the best candidates”, says the Telegraph. Unilever and other use HireVue’s AI to 

“analyse the language, tone and facial expressions of candidates when they are asked a set of identical job questions which they film on their mobile phone or laptop. The algorithms select the best applicants by assessing their performances in the videos against about 25,000 pieces of facial and linguistic information compiled from previous interviews of those who have gone on to prove to be good at the job.”

It’s not doing face recognition, it’s doing behaviour recognition. Something like: “These facial and speech behaviours are correlated with the interviewee being a good employee - thumbs up, +4 career points”.

It’s natural that this feels a bit wrong because humans are unique and special, right? In truth though, they are bound by fairly predictable behaviours, and really it’s not that hard to have a computer watch the face of a human and make judgements. It’s science you can trust, and in fact it weeds out bias because the machine doesn’t care, unlike a human interviewer who’ll bring loads of messy biases. So it’s a good thing, it’s progress.

Oh sorry wait, it’s a science you can trust as long as the data the machine learning model was trained on was large and unbiased. And as long as none of the interviewees look different to the ones in the training data. And as long as the machine learning doesn’t inadvertently amplify any systemic biases in the hiring organisation’s practices (or Hirevue itself’s). And as long as interviewees can meaningfully give consent to be catalogued by a machine. And as long as no discrimination law is being broken by having the computer say no. And as long as some job applicants aren’t freaked out by being video-interviewed by a Voight-Kampff machine.

Here the newsletterbot is guilty of bias: it believes humans to be sufficiently complex that it will be hard to effectively “machine learn” the problem that is organisations, their people, their culture, their politics, the webs of motivations and incentives, their jobs and the humans that might potentially fit well.

Still, HireVue says they’re serious about ethical and accurate machine learning, so fingers crossed 😬. An interesting read on video interviews. YouTube is full of videos about how to do well in a HireVue video interview, here’s one. Watching them, you’re struck by the asymmetry: the machine and later an employer watching your interview video, but you seeing nothing except the questions and the webcam’s black eye. So interviewing would be perhaps be a bit fairer if the employer also had 30 seconds to consider and 3 minutes to answer on camera the interviewee’s questions.

Unrelated, but relevant because it’s about bias and how it and power are inadvertently expressed in technology: “Google contractors allegedly offered darker-skinned homeless people $5 dollar gift cards to scan their faces for facial recognition software”.

Uber work

Uber’s temp agency platform, Uber Work has launched in Chicago. The company says: “We believe that finding work shouldn’t have to be a job in itself. For positions as diverse as being a prep cook, warehouse worker, a commercial cleaner or event staff, Uber Works aims to make it easier to find and claim a shift.”

Here’s a fictional look at temp workers in 2023, and hopefully Uber Works doesn’t nudge work in that direction. Something that empowers shift workers is a better model: “crowdsourcing information about what it’s really like to work somewhere, turning it into recommendations about employers that could be better for you” (from plucky UK startup Poplar).

Elsewhere, a successful taxi co-op: “A worker owned taxi coop in Southend has grown from 6 to 70 drivers. They repaid all their investors and returned £3000 to their members last year. The same year Uber left the area after failing to compete with them.”

Amazon rumours

Amazon to sell its Go technology to airports, cinemas, sports venues? Interesting if true - eventually there would be a tension between the platform and the grocery businesses (see also: Ocado in 2017ish).

Amazon is said to be hiring property experts in UK.

Similar rumour: but in Los Angeles. A dozen leases have been signed in Los Angeles, reports the Wall St journal. 7 burning questions about Amazon's new grocery chain.

Facebook leak: trust deficit internally?

A Facebooker leaked audio of an all-team Zuckermeet. The media reported it as FB boss Zuckerberg saying he’d fight (too) hard against politicians etc, but the transcript suggests that his comments were actually fairly standard stuff. This story is more notable for the fact that an employee recorded and leaked the meeting - growing cultural/trust deficit internally, perhaps?

Cryptocurrency news

Paypal has pulled out of the Facebook-led Libra cryptocurrency consortium, saying that it’s not you Libra it’s me. Rumours: Mastercard and Visa aren’t so sure either.

Police auctioned off £240,000 of cryptocurrency confiscated from a hacker - if it had been a confiscated 3 Series with a spoiler kit and spinner rims you’d have expected to be able to snag a good deal, but money’s money so maybe there wasn’t a discount in this case.

“The pain in my jaw from holding just one cryptocurrency had reduced me to an all-liquid diet. I was not cut out to be a trader.” - a good piece on the subsistence lives of small-scale cryptocurrency traders (also a decent backgrounder on cryptocurrencies).

Other news

How grocery pickup is evolving - supermarkets trying to make click-n-collect faster.

Supreme Court hands victory to blind man who sued Domino's over website accessibility - see previous story on this.

Climate Action Tech: “empower technology professionals to play our part - to meet, discuss, learn and take climate action” - needed because the tech industry uses a lot of energy.

No good urban ebike deed goes unpunished. “Horrible. One good deed rewarded with a scary blend of the so-called sharing economy, the commercialisation of communal spaces, and authoritarian surveillance capitalism, all sugared with the unbearable style of wackaging. May every dockless bike and scooter scheme go bust as soon as possible.”

Workshop tactics for agile teams - looks good.

Job ad for Ocado developers is neatly placed in the website’s code.

Previous newsletters:

Most opened newsletter in the last month: competing with Amazon Go. Most clicked story: Why don’t we just call agile what it is: feminist.

News 1 year ago: curated convenience and paying with your data.

News 2 years ago: eGovernment (single digital market) and first mile logistics (Amazon keeping inventory in retailer warehousing).

Co-op Digital news and events

What the data and feedback show about 3 digital services in our Food stores.

Public events:

Manchester WordPress User Group - Wed 16 Oct 6.30pm at Federation House.

Tech for Good Live vs the climate crisis - Thu 17 Oct 6.30pm at Federation House.

Business Growth Hub - Moving your business forward - Mon 21 Oct 12pm at Federation House.

Meet the expert - marketing approach - Tue 22 Oct 12pm at Federation House.

Meet the expert - hints and tricks on social media - Wed 23 Oct 1pm at Federation House.

Human values in software production - Tue 5 Nov 6pm at Federation House.

Practitioners Forum: vital lessons for key co-operators - Thu 7 Nov at the Studio, Manchester.

Pods Up North , an event for podcasters - Sat 23 Nov 9am at Federation House.

Mind the Product - MTP Engage - Fri 7 Feb 2020 - you can get early bird tickets now.

Internal events:

Digital all hands - Wed 9 Oct 1pm at Fed House Defiant.

Co-operate show & tell - Wed 9 Oct 3pm at Fed House 6th floor kitchen.

Food ecommerce show & tell - Mon 14 Oct 10.15am at Fed House 5th floor.

Delivery community of practice - Mon 14 Oct 1.30pm.

What has the web team been up to? - Tue 15 Oct 1.30pm at Fed House 5th floor.

Health show & tell - Tue 15 Oct 2.30pm at Fed House 5th floor.

Engineering community of practice - Wed 16 Oct 1pm at fed House Defiant.

Targeted marketing (CRM) show & tell - Wed 16 Oct 3pm at Angel Square 13th floor breakout area.

Membership show & tell - Fri 18 Oct 3pm at Fed House 6th floor kitchen.

More events at Federation House - and you can contact the events team at  federation.events@coopdigital.co.uk. And TechNW has a useful calendar of events happening in the North West. 

Thank you for reading

Thank you, beloved readers and contributors. Please continue to send ideas, questions, corrections, improvements, etc to the newsletterbot’s word gardener @rod on Twitter. If you have enjoyed reading, please tell a friend!

If you want to find out more about Co-op Digital, follow us @CoopDigital on Twitter and read the Co-op Digital Blog. Previous newsletters.

[pacommercialcorporate]

Warehouse Building For Lease in Michigan

The unique offering is new to the market with excellent visibility off. The warehouse building for lease assets is perfectly placed for any house that seeks clean and functional warehouses for your family.

If you are looking for a warehouse building for lease, then here are some properties you need to check out.

Phase 3 Shovel Ready Site

The Shovel Ready site is located at the Northeast corner of Genron Court and Wahrman Road. The size of this warehouse is 120,120 Square feet. Manufacturing and distribution space is also available on this property. It had a total of 8.34 acres. The building is 32-foot clear in height, 50 feet by 50-column spacing and has 12 dock doors. Utilities with excess capability, Ample parking is available with 72 car parking spaces and 22 trailer parking spaces.

Only 30 minutes away from Southwest Detroit, e-commerce-related businesses, and industrial manufacturing plants. E-commerce services such as amazon and FedEx. Manufacturing companies such as Lear, century plastic etc.

Elm Valley Dr

This property is located halfway between Detroit and Chicago. This community offers immense flexibility for any size warehouse, office, or manufacturing tenant. Elm Valley has 12 buildings, and each has a difficult size from 2 500 square to 50,00 square feet. The rent is $11 95 square feet per year.

Elm Valley Dr has prime geographic positioning.

For the office lease special offer has been included that is the rent for one year is $5.95 per square foot.  The broker bonus of 1% for any tenant lease is executed on or before 28 February 2023. The features of the warehouse house are a clear height of 24', drive-in bays, a standard parking space of 348 square feet and exterior dock doors.

Industrial or Cannabis Suites from 1,000 square feet

The cannabis suite is fully fenced with ample parking space. All the tenants utilise exterior trucks and many grand-level doors. This property is well cleaned and maintained property in Warren, Michigan. The warehouse is climate controlled, which means it is heated and air-conditioned.

The size of the building is 70,225 square feet, and the power supply for this building is 240 volts to 480 volts. It is located between l 696 and highway 102, and it takes a few minutes to connect to the Van Dyke Avenue commercial corridor. From the property, you can reach Detroit within a 30 minutes drive.

[christianniro21]

Warehouse Space for Sale Chicago

Seeking warehouse space in Chicago? Dive into the ultimate resource for industrial real estate at WarehouseFinder.net! Discover a plethora of options for warehouse ownership, lease, or rent tailored to your business requirements. Whether you're a startup or an established enterprise, our platform offers listings for Warehouse for Sale Chicago, Warehouse for Lease Chicago, Industrial Warehouse for Sale Chicago, and more. Explore our comprehensive database to find the perfect fit for your operations. Don't miss out on prime opportunities for warehouse property in the Windy City. Start your search today on WarehouseFinder.net and unlock the potential for your business growth!

[seedfinance]

Scannell continues its torrid pace of building, leasing in Northeast Ohio

Indianapolis-based Scannell Properties continues to build, rent, and even sell huge warehouse properties in northeast Ohio.

Next up for the developer is a modern 300,000 square meter warehouse on Avery Parkway near his Strongsville Business Park on Foltz Parkway in the southwestern suburb. More land for the project will be purchased shortly, but the plans have been approved by the city, according to Tim Elam, a Scannell executive director.

Unlike earlier times when demand, affordable funding, or other concerns challenged builders, Elam said that sourcing materials must now be considered. It has already ordered materials for the project, which is expected to start early next year.

“It’s very different,” said Elam. “For a project like this, we order steel seven to eight months in advance. We used to order three to four months in advance.

However, demand from industrial companies and from companies that also need retail space for e-commerce companies like Amazon is solid enough to set up the pipeline for the project.

Elam mentioned the Strongsville Project after refusing to comment on a lead that Amazon rented the 300,000-square-foot building Scannell is building at 5585 Canal Road, Valley View.

The Seattle-based online juggernaut’s interest in the Valley View project was signaled by a document, technically an affidavit, dated Jan.

Valley View Mayor Jerry Piasecki said in a phone interview that the village had received no evidence that Amazon might occupy the structure. “Everything we’ve seen says it’s a Scannell project,” he said.

All Elam would say about the Valley View project is, “We move a lot of dirt over there.”

Meanwhile, another project in Strongsville is showing how the market is rewarding builders, developers and builders like Scannell.

Cuyahoga County’s land registers show that on Aug. 30, Scannell sold a 180,000-square-foot building called Scannell Properties # 334 LLC in legal documents for $ 19.5 million.

The new owner is Stag Industrial Holdings LLC (NYSE: STAG), a Boston-based real estate fund specializing in the purchase of industrial buildings with long-term leases. Stag, the owner of 500 industrial buildings with a portfolio of 100 million square feet, actually signaled the Strongsville purchase in its latest earnings release on July 27, saying it was one of $ 120 million made in the second quarter this year.

Don Bain, executive vice president of the Cleveland Industrial Unit at JLL Inc., said such deals are a sign of the times.

“Cleveland is benefiting from the national pursuit of industrial real estate,” Bain said in an interview. “Businesses need the real estate and a lot of developers have put together designs that are right for them. There is also a lot of cash for this type of investment, either from REITs or industrial investors.”

Bain found that Northeast Ohio serves as an alternative for such buyers because it is not on the go-go coasts or is home to cities like Indianapolis or Chicago, which are well-established distribution hubs.

“It started in the 1990s when Duke Realty Corp. began building investment-grade properties like this one in Strongsville,” said Bain. “They were 24 feet then, but now they are 40 feet. That put us on the list for this type of investment so that we can now benefit from the investment. “

source https://seedfinance.net/2021/09/05/scannell-continues-its-torrid-pace-of-building-leasing-in-northeast-ohio/

[poundgirdle76]

Important Points About Renting Apartment

An apartment, or apartment complex, is a unit which contains not just a living space for the residents, but sometimes also a detached dry cleaning/laundry facility, which might be a portion of its own building or attached to another building. There are several common names for these buildings, check out the Internet for a number of these. They may be called condos, lofts, townhouses, or apartments, and could possibly be used for any type of dwelling, not just residential. An apartment building can incorporate a resort, an industrial complex, a warehouse, a storage center, apartments, privately owned homes, or any mix thereof. One sort of apartment buildings is termed"condos," and there are lots of distinct types of condos, such as condos in New York City, condominiums in San Francisco, commercial lofts in Chicago, and so on. Here we'll go over the word"flat" next. A"flat," in this sense, is simply a residential dwelling unit. An apartment building which contains one-story apartments is called a"complicated," and those buildings may contain a couple of apartment homes, townhouses, or condos. The apartment building owner decides at what rent the renter of the apartment may pay, either for a fixed monthly amount, for a percentage of one month's lease, to get a pre-determined period of pay, etc.. The renter of the apartment pays rent each month to the landlord. The landlord then determines how much he wants to bill in the kind of rent. This manner it's similar to renting a home, where you make your payments as per a schedule of months to years. Rent prices vary from 1 area to another, based upon just how much the landlord wants to charge, and what type of neighborhood he expects to attract. Typically you can avoid paying exorbitant rent by picking a less expensive apartment building. This saves you from paying rent to a landlord who is only looking to gain from his investment. In the long run you are saving money on the apartment itself, as well as from top maintenance fees you'd have otherwise paid to your landlord. There are many other costs involved in leasing an apartment. You'll have to cover deposits, insurance, pet residue (if the apartment has a pet), sewer, water, electricity, etc.. 동대문op Additionally you have to pay your landlord for all necessary utilities, such as heating, air conditioning, etc.. Additionally, you have to take care of cleaning up after your tenant leaves, and otherwise the apartment will reduce its score, and you will be charged extra charges. Therefore, the general cost of leasing an apartment is figured from the landlord's profit, and any increase in profit signifies increased lease for you. Amenities are not cheap, but the landlord may provide them free using the flat. Many landlords give tenants one or two choices of common areas to hang out in. If they opt not to utilize the areas supplied, they cover the price themselves. Amenities may include anything from televisions, coffee makers, exercise gear, big televisions for watching sports matches, etc.. If the apartment you rent has such conveniences, your tenant is going to be pleased to have such things around. In addition to the amenities, you could also get points for extra things brought into the flat if they are needed, like a washer or dryer, trash can, etc.. Landlords must abide with their states' fair housing laws, that require them to ensure their apartment or commercial property is secure for all renters. Some landlords may add their construction to the local fair housing institution and might make their property available to handicapped individuals as well. These rules vary from state to state, therefore it's best to ask your landlord if he complies with the fair housing laws of your state. If you believe that he does not, then you need to think about looking for another rental house where he may comply. Finally, when you lease an apartment, you should be aware of your tenant's right to lease freehold. This means that if a new tenant moves in to your building, you are legally obligated to let them rent the flat for so long as they reside there. This is usually the case when you rent an apartment for over 1 year. But if you choose to break this principle, you could be sued for discrimination, therefore it's important to always consult your landlord concerning this problem beforehand.

[orbemnews]

As Online Shopping Surged, Amazon Planned Its New York Takeover When the pandemic gripped New York City, it propelled an enormous surge in online shopping that has not waned, even in a metropolis where stores are rarely far away. People who regularly bought online are now buying more, while those who started ordering to avoid exposure to the virus have been won over by the advantages. The abrupt shift in shopping patterns has made New York a high-stakes testing ground for urban deliveries, with its sheer density both a draw and a logistical nightmare. It has also highlighted the need for an unglamorous yet critical piece of the e-commerce infrastructure: warehouse space to store and sort packages and satisfy customer expectations for faster and faster delivery. Amazon has spent the pandemic embarking on a warehouse shopping spree in New York, significantly expanding its footprint in the biggest and most lucrative market in the country. It has snatched up at least nine new warehouses in the city, including a 1 million-plus square foot behemoth rising in Queens that will be its largest in New York, and today has at least 12 warehouses in the five boroughs. And it has added to its roster more than two dozen warehouses in suburbs surrounding the city. No other large competitor has a single warehouse in the city and Amazon has largely left most of its chief rivals, like Wal-Mart and Target, behind. “Amazon had people making deals,” said Adam Gordon, whose real estate firm Wildflower owns several warehouses in the city. “And they were outcompeting.” While New York’s narrow streets, chronic traffic jams and brutal lack of parking are all formidable challenges, the city also has a severe shortage of warehouses just when they are most needed to properly grease an efficient delivery system. New York has about 128 million square feet of industrial space, far less than many smaller cities. Indianapolis, whose population is just one-tenth that of New York’s, has nearly double the space. Chicago is the nation’s leader with more than 1.2 billion square feet. Many packages come to New York from New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where there is room to build bigger and cheaper warehouses. And in the past year Amazon has added 14 new warehouses in New Jersey and on Long Island, totaling more than 7 million square feet. But having warehouses in the city is more cost effective and can trim roughly 20 percent off delivery expenses compared with deliveries that originate in New Jersey. “We are excited to continue to invest in the state of New York by adding new delivery stations,” said Deborah Bass, an Amazon spokeswoman, adding that the company’s goal was to “become part of the fabric of New York City by embracing the people, the needs, and the spirit of the community.” Amazon’s rapid expansion in New York has also drawn more scrutiny to the treatment of its workers, an issue that the company has faced in other parts of the country. Amazon has sought to quash efforts by warehouse employees to form unions — including on Staten Island — and a high-profile battle is currently being waged in Alabama. In New York, the attorney general has sued Amazon over conditions at two of its local warehouses, accusing the company of failing to properly clean its buildings and conduct adequate contact-tracing, as well as of taking “swift retaliatory action” to silence employee complaints. An Amazon spokeswoman disputed the allegations and said the company cared “deeply about the health and safety” of its workers. Amazon’s growth in New York comes two years after it abandoned plans to build a gleaming new headquarters in Queens. A chorus of lawmakers and progressive activists had opposed granting one of the world’s wealthiest companies billions of dollars in government incentives that the giant retailer had won by making cities compete against each other. But New York remains an alluring prize, and Amazon’s string of warehouses in the city puts it in a strong position to benefit from the huge spike in online shopping set off by the pandemic. Roughly 2.4 million packages are delivered in the city every day, nearly half a million more than before the pandemic, and city data shows that 80 percent of deliveries are to residential customers, compared with 40 percent before the outbreak. The torrent of e-commerce crosses all categories: daily grocery deliveries have more than doubled, restaurant and prepared food deliveries have increased by 12 percent and household goods deliveries have jumped by 24 percent, according to an analysis by José Holguín-Veras and Cara Wang, professors at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute who work on transportation issues. “The challenge now is urban deliveries,” Mr. Holguín-Veras said. “And if you look at the numbers, they are only going to increase.” While there will likely be some decline in orders as the outbreak eases, the overall trajectory is clear, experts say. “The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of e-commerce by five years in one year because users have been forced to adapt,” said Marc Palazzolo, a transportation consultant for Kearny, a consulting firm that has advised the city’s business leaders on e-commerce. By 2045, the total volume of freight moving through New York City is expected to hit 540 million tons a year, up from 365 million tons today, according to city data. Still, the online shopping boom will only worsen problems like congestion and pollution that were already bad before the pandemic, sending flotillas of delivery trucks across the city and flooding sidewalks and lobbies with packages. It has come during a perilous period for New York’s small businesses, which have been battered by the pandemic with nearly 3,000 having closed for good as of last August, according to the most recent data available from the city comptroller’s office. Small businesses struggle to compete online with retailers that typically charge less for the same items and have a far more robust delivery infrastructure. “Building e-commerce capabilities isn’t easy,’’ said Jonathan Bowles, executive director of the Center for an Urban Future, a research organization. “It requires a lot more than just having a website.’’ For larger retailers, having warehouses closer to consumers will become more crucial in an increasingly competitive online market. But the city, once a manufacturing center filled with factories, is not particularly welcoming. To try to protect residential neighborhoods from pollution and traffic, zoning rules limit the construction of warehouses to designated manufacturing districts. “There’s no more space to build new warehouses, so it’s leaving most retailers out of the growth,” said Gabriel Cepeda, the founder of Pickups Technologies, a storage and logistics company. Construction is underway or about to begin on new factories that will have roughly 8.7 million square feet of space in all, including a 1.2 million square-foot UPS site in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Three warehouses under construction will have multiple levels, which is common in Asia, and multiple loading docks that can be used by one company or divided among several. Amazon has signed leases at two of them. The opening of warehouses has brought some economic benefits, leading to the hiring of thousands of workers — some part-time jobs start at $17.25 an hour — at a time when many city residents are jobless. Mr. Cepeda is creating a homegrown distribution system of “mini-warehouses.” He has recruited more than 1,000 residents in Manhattan and Brooklyn who will get paid to use their apartments to store goods for retailers and send them out for delivery. Amazon, which owns Whole Foods, has also used the grocery stores to fulfill online orders, with its workers often outnumbering store customers. Walmart had a warehouse in the Bronx through Jet.com, a now-defunct shopping site it owned, but later vacated the property, which is now leased by Amazon. Wal-Mart — which has no stores in the city — uses warehouses in Pennsylvania to serve online customers. Target, which started same-day delivery in the city in 2017 and has about two dozen stores in New York, has used its stores as mini-distribution hubs, in part because it is cheaper to fulfill an online order in a store than at an out-of-town warehouse. Many smaller companies are feeling the pressure to expand their online and delivery operations. Stop & Shop has hired hundreds of workers to increase its online grocery service in the New York area, including at a warehouse in nearby Jersey City. Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors, the butcher for many high-end restaurants, has spent more than $1 million on its online and retail sales operations, selling to shoppers on its website and through Amazon Fresh and ShopRite. That business made up as much as 90 percent of the company’s sales in 2020, up from 15 percent before the pandemic. “Home delivery will be prominent for the next decade,” Mr. LaFrieda said. “It will be key to our success.” The company has reconfigured its New Jersey warehouse to prioritize retail sales and designed new packaging for online customers. While Amazon is laying the foundation for online dominance in New York, Mr. Gordon, the owner of several warehouses, said other retailers would also need to become more nimble to respond to the new ways people are buying. The e-commerce demands also place added pressure on warehouse workers and drivers to fulfill and deliver orders on time, as customers now expect. “Just-in-time delivery and last-mile delivery is what it means,’’ Mr. Gordon said. “You need to be very close to your customer to provide the level of service that people now expect.” Source link Orbem News #Amazon #Online #planned #Shopping #surged #takeover #York

[leasewarehouses]

8121 central park newly renovated medium sized warehouse spaces for lease 30 min north of downtown Chicago #warehousespace #forlease #realestatebroker https://www.instagram.com/p/CI6Zcr9jj5j/?igshid=1e0ozaqr66iuo

[hightechlogistics]

Decoding the Role of Fulfillment Centers in Chicago

E-Commerce business dealers use the services of fulfillment centers in Chicago to outsource tasks like warehousing and shipping. This helps the online business of the primary company in storing various goods, products, and items. It is beneficial for the vendors as they can manage stock without having to have the capacity for stock management. The products are sent to the fulfillment center and it is shipped by the outsourced supplier to the clients.

Conversely, the warehouse in Chicago is responsible for storing goods and products for an extended time. It is a huge modern space or storage center that is used to house bulk inventory. Here, equipment like compartments and forklifts can be seen along with high stacked racks storing various items systematically. The warehousing services are used by businesses who are into high volume wholesale or B2B projects. In some cases, large retailers also manage their warehouses for the storage of excess stock. Some may even lease space for this purpose.

Many mid and small-sized business retailers take cost-effective space on rent. Such space is similar to storage space units when they fall short of space at home. This way, they have some of the stock handy and are also able to recover in case they are running low with the stocks.

The task of a fulfillment center is to ensure the delivery of orders received by the online business and get it delivered at the customer’s doorstep. The stock of an online business is placed separately in a fulfillment center of a 3PLCompany in Chicago to complete anticipated customer orders. Once the purchase process is finished by the buyer at the eCommerce store, the inventory gets picked, packed, and labeled for shipment. These centers are equipped to carry out both Business to Customers and Business to Business orders with remarkable ease.

Original Source: Blogger.com

[imsureiforgotsomething]

I go one better, I'm done with that person. I do not need folks projecting their problems onto me.

A few years ago my close buddy wanted to start an online dog food delivery company in the Chicago area. He started out by buying lots of things like getting his website built, shelving, leasing warehouse space, buying a delivery vehicle, buying a shitload of stock to put on those shelves, etc.

That set off some alarms in my head because 20 yrs earlier I had investigated and began planning to build a microbrewery. Making a business plan was the first thing I had to build, and it was a daunting task. In figuring out the economics of what I had in mind I concluded I couldn't do it, it had to be much bigger and defs not a one-man show. But even then, most of my time was blown on pricing out hardware that I only realized really didn't matter once I worked the business plan. I saw that same thing happening to my buddy.

So, I ask him if he has a business plan and can I see it? He popped off on me, saying of course he had a business plan - there are millions of dogs in the area and if he only got 1% of that business he'd be rolling in dough. I asked to see his calculations and assumptions and he proceeded to shame me, saying I was fucked up for asking. He had decades of experience in sales and marketing and who am I to question that. Not having a plan is a super red flag but he was being a major dick so I shut up, telling myself let's watch this play out.

About 9 months into business he tells me he's cashing out some of his retirement savings to pay for a marketing blitz. Apparently his idea, that just by making a website it would be the first thing popping up on everyone's search for dog food, wasn't a good enough idea (or even based on any knowledge of how search results are ordered). His idea of marketing? Printing door knob hangers to distribute (to over 10,000 homes, by himself?) and putting an ad wrap on his delivery vehicle (yeah, the one that wasn't delivering any goods).

Fast forward 6 more months, he now wants to have a bricks-and-mortar store. His wife groomed dogs and had a storefront so he bought more shelving and a POS system and freezers (for raw food, a trendy thing I guess) and opened up. Shit, more goods bought, I thought.

Less than 6 months later he shut it all down, sold off any hardware and inventory. I spent 2 years looking at his inventory so I can say not much had been sold to customers.

The fucker who took to shaming my ass rather than take a serious look at what it would really take, got to see what his hubris could do. He never realized his mistakes.

I have drifted away from him since then. My life got busier (caring for my progressively disabled wife) and he divorced and moved hours away yet became even more needy (I'm a compulsive giver/helper, he's a taker, a bad combo). When I told him he'd have to take care of his own shit he said essentially no, I want you to continue doing what I want you to do. I told him good luck with that, and haven't talked with him since.

I've learned to recognize the bad parasites in my life and remove them, and I'm better for it. Also too, I don't need anyone around me who makes me feel shitty for their failings.

whenever this happens, I just tell myself that I did my part so if they’re mad- it’s on them. not me