Midwest Flooring Supplier Sets Up New Warehousing, Distribution, And Logistics Center At Midlink Business Park In Kalamazoo

Erickson's Flooring to lease 51,200 square feet in Midlink West, increasing Midlink's total occupancy to 80%

Erickson's Flooring & Supply Company, a Midwest wholesale flooring supplier headquartered in Ferndale, Michigan, will open a new 51,200 square feet warehousing, distribution and logistics facility at Midlink Business Park to improve warehousing operations and better service its customers, Erickson and Midlink officials announced today.

Rick Walters, president of Erickson's Flooring, cited Midlink's close proximity to major hubs in the Midwest, its easy access to highways US-131 and I-94, and ‘very attractive space' as the reasons why Midlink was chosen over other locations the firm had considered.

"We've outgrown our central distribution facility in Detroit," he said. "We wanted to ease the burden on that facility while also looking for an additional Michigan location that would allow us to more efficiently reach our customers in our Midwest markets. Midlink gives us the geographic location and space we need to achieve that efficiency." The Detroit warehouse will stay in operation as well, Walters explained.

Erickson's Flooring, founded and headquartered in the Detroit suburb of Ferndale in 1943, is one of the Midwest's leading distributors of high-quality wood flooring and supplies. It operates showrooms and warehouses in Grand Rapids, Detroit, Chicago and Indianapolis, and serves customers throughout Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. The company employs over 60 people.

Walters says the Midlink operation will require 15 employees. As many as 10 of those employees will be new hires from the Kalamazoo area, while the remaining employees needed will be transferred from other Erickson's locations.

Midlink Business Park is a 340-acre, multi-tenant, multi-discipline complex that occupies the buildings and land of the former General Motors stamping plant. Purchased by Hackman Capital Partners in 1999, the site has been restored and repurposed as an economically and aesthetically attractive destination for businesses in search of new manufacturing, logistics, R&D, office and retail development space. In addition to its prime location on I-94, midway between Detroit and Chicago, and immediate access to air and rail transportation, Midlink has been lauded for its Renaissance Zone designation by the State of Michigan, which guarantees substantial tax abatements and incentives for any tenant through 2017.