HAMBURG, N.Y. — We are working to learn more about what is happening with the Amazon warehouse built in Hamburg.
It's located off Route 5 and Bayview Road in the Lake Erie Commerce Center Park and so far there's no apparent activity around the 181,000-square-foot distribution center.
Weeks after the Town of Niagara approved a huge five-story Amazon warehouse in that community, down to the south in Hamburg the much smaller Amazon facility now stands quietly amidst parking lots full of Canada geese instead of truck traffic. We only saw two landscapers on site Tuesday.
We don't know what's inside. But most Amazon warehouses have highly automated systems with robotic equipment to help handle boxes and packages. That factor and hiring for an estimated 100 positions may be tied to a potential delayed opening according to Professor Patrick Penfield who is a Supply Chain Studies expert at Syracuse University.
He says, "Really difficult because of the tight labor market we're in right now to hire qualified candidates, qualified workers. So they're kinda struggling with that. In addition, a lot of their warehouses have a lot of robotics and so those robotics require some semi-conductor chips and those chips are in short supply.
Then there is Amazon's financial situation. They may be contracting just like many companies left holding overstocked merchandise in this strange post-pandemic world with the apparent slowing economy. Penfield notes, "They had their worst loss last quarter. They lost $3.8 billion versus in 2021 where they made $8 billion. So I think they've kinda held off and I know they've canceled some openings of some warehouses just because of that fact."
Amazon officials have told investors about higher costs in its fulfillment network. And the Freightwaves.com industry publication shows nationally 16 Amazon warehouses were delayed, canceled, or even sub- et for other firms to the warehouse. No Western New York facilities including the existing Lancaster and Tonawanda sites are on that list. And yet there is another confusing trend with that publication saying the firm actually intends to build out its warehousing network
We reached out to the director of the Hamburg Industrial Development Agency which granted Amazon over $6 million in tax breaks and incentives last year. He did not return our call. Town Supervisor Randy Hoak did say it was his understanding that this facility would staff up for the Christmas shopping season by November.
So far there has been no response to us from Amazon's Public Relations department.
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