Pilkington: Jackson Opens In Record Time

In fact it took a record 60 days - the total time from the moment the decision to open up the Jackson Service Centre in Mississippi was confirmed, to the moment it opened its doors.
 
"Despite the economy we are still growing and when we see an opportunity to grow, we jump on it," said AGR NA sales director Christophe Petit.
 
"Within two months of approval, Jackson was up and running which is a remarkable achievement. This is a tough market and we needed to show strong reactivity to market conditions and the ability to adapt and adjust quickly."
 
AGR have previously serviced Jackson out of Monroe, Louisiana, but that was too far away to offer the same day service which customers demand and business was confined to next day service via overnight deliveries.
 
So when Christophe's team heard that one of their competitors was pulling out of the city, leaving only a single supplier, they were quick to react. "We were already looking at Jackson as a potential location and now we grasped the opportunity," said Christophe.
 
"Customers don't like to be confined to one source of supply - and they were very excited at the thought of us moving in to fill the gap."
 
The competitor closed late June, the proposal for AGR to move in was approved on August 17th and the hunt began for a site. "We looked at where our customers were located, how they were serviced by our remaining competitor and where it was best to establish our base," said Christophe. "Then we looked for available warehouses in that area."
 
The one they found is a new building of 12,500 sq ft in the south east of Jackson, with easy access to highways and quick routes in and out of the city. The building was just a shell but the owner, a building contractor, agreed to build a small office area for the service centre employees and a "Will-Call" collection point for customers who pick up orders in person.
 
The office was built in less than a month while racking, glass, forklift and automatic picker were being put up and brought in. Meanwhile the five-strong team of drivers and warehouse operators were being recruited. There is no customer phone service team and orders will still be taken in the Monroe call center.
 
And on October 19th, Jackson Service Centre opened its doors to its waiting customers. "The ramp-up has gone smoothly and the customers are happy," said Christophe.
 
"It's been a hectic opening but we've got a great result."