Small Town Packs Big Punch
May 10, 2022
Site Selection Magazine
by Ron Starner
When the largest privately held manufacturer and distributor of medical supplies selects your community for a major facility investment, it’s safe to say that your city has arrived. While the small town of Wilmer in Dallas County, Texas, did not need Medline’s stamp of endorsement to place the 5,000-resident municipality on the map, a lot more people know about Wilmer now.
Part of the Dallas-Fort Worth- Arlington MSA, Wilmer is rapidly making a name for itself as the sweet spot for Fortune 500 end-users. From Ace Hardware and Makita to Yokohama, Procter & Gamble, and Whirlpool, Wilmer has become the go-to business destination for major brands wanting to get goods to market quickly.
Being located right off Interstate 45 just 16 miles southeast of Dallas helps. Dmitry Dhukan, vice president of real estate, facilities, security, and supply chain optimization for Medline Industries Inc., says the $20-billion firm based in Northfield, Illinois, chose Wilmer for a host of reasons.
“We had a 280,000-sq.-ft. facility in Dallas and business was great, but we needed to grow,” says Dhukan. “This regional facility serves half the state. Medline supplies 90% of the hospitals in Texas. When we do a site search, we look at where our current and future customers are. We self-perform our own transportation, and we focus on a 300-mile radius around each distribution center. From our DCs in Houston and DFW, we can serve the entire state.”
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