Backgrounder: A short history of the Amazon warehouses in Madison County

An Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville that was destroyed by a storm Friday night opened in 2016 and combined with a neighboring facility, employing thousands.

Madison County’s flat, empty land and proximity to interstates, airports, rail and river travel made it an appealing location for the e-commerce giant.

The company’s two warehouses, measuring in at 1.5 million square feet combined, were originally slated to employ between 500 and 600 workers, but the company surpassed 2,000 employees within a year of opening. They’re located just northeast of the intersection of Interstates 270 and 255 at 3077 Gateway Commerce Drive.

One of the warehouses, which Amazon calls “fulfillment centers,” was built to store larger items and the other for smaller products, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported in 2016.

The facility fulfills orders nationwide and around the world for everything from televisions, to clothes, to food items. It’s a massive space with stacks of merchandise that go up to the ceiling.

The warehouses are built with structural steel frames and poured concrete for the walls and floor, according to Amazon.

Amazon operates more than 175 fulfillment centers worldwide.

This story was originally published December 11, 2021 at 1:44 PM.

Kelsey Landis

Belleville News-Democrat

618-239-2101

Kelsey Landis is an Illinois state affairs and politics reporter for the Belleville News-Democrat. She joined the newsroom in January 2020 after her first stint at the paper from 2016 to 2018. She graduated from Southern Illinois University in 2010 and earned a master’s from DePaul University in 2014. Landis previously worked at The Alton Telegraph. At the BND, she focuses on informing you about what your lawmakers are doing in Springfield and Washington, D.C., and she works to hold them accountable. Landis has won Illinois Press Association awards for her work, including the Freedom of Information Award.