Channahon Road: Target Celebrates New Distribution Center

JOLIET, IL —At 9 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 7, representatives from Target, the city of Joliet, Chamber of Commerce, Will County government and other dignitaries gathered at the newly built Target Distribution Center off Route 6 for a ribbon cutting ceremony.

Interim city of Joliet manager Steve Jones told Joliet Patch that Tuesday's ribbon-cutting was a pretty monumental event for the city. He said that the 1.2 million square foot building marks the largest spec building constructed in the Chicago area.

"And Joliet is in their choice and preference," Jones told Joliet Patch. "That tells us that the market in effect is attractive."

Jones noted that many of the country's largest companies including Amazon, Target and IKEA continue to choose Joliet to grow their companies and their work forces.

At Tuesday's event, several of Target's company executives from Minneapolis were on hand. They shared words of encouragement to Joliet's new 100 member work force. The new Joliet distribution center is being run by Matt Jefferies, senior director at Target, who recently moved to the area from Minneapolis. He is originally from South America, he said.

He told the employees the key to their new building's success lies in its culture. The employee culture is what sets the difference between good buildings and great buildings, he told everyone.

Tuesday was super special, the employees were told, because it marked the first day that the new Joliet Target Distribution Center would ship its first trailer of merchandise and supplies.

Target opened the building in November and it now has about 100 employees. Target plans to reach about 300 employees by the end of the year. The address is 3300 Channahon Road.

"This building is the first of its kind for Target," a press advisory notes. "We will provide stores with operating supplies needed, shelving, signs, equipment –not merchandise for sale at the store. This will empower Target to continue to meet our guest demands and remodel hundreds of stores per year."

Among those on hand for Tuesday's event were Joliet Mayor Bob O'Dekirk, Will County Chief of Staff Nick Palmer, City Councilman Terry Morris and John Greuling, CEO of the Will County Center for Economic Development, Steve Jones and Derek Conley, Joliet's economic development specialist.