Seattle, WA — (Sept. 29, 2022) — Today Flexe, the programmatic logistics leader, announced Flexe Inventory Surplus Markets. Now, retailers and brands can immediately reposition and store excess inventory in flexible, lower-cost inland markets through a single integration to the Flexe Technology Platform.
Supply chain bottlenecks, increased manufacturing levels, inflation and reduced consumer demand created billions in canceled retail orders. Unsurprisingly, these record inventory levels combined with high rental rates cut into tight operating margins.
Accounting for 65% of national imports, warehouse demand is concentrated near the congested Los Angeles/Long Beach, New York/Newark, Charleston and Savannah ports. As a result, these warehouse markets have 0.60% average vacancy rates vs. 2.9% nationally, along with high asking rents. Los Angeles/Long Beach asking rents, for example, are up over 35% YoY to $17.53 average per sq/ft vs. $9.40 per sq/ft nationally, according to CBRE.
“Storing inventory in primary markets has never been as hard and expensive,” said Karl Siebrecht, Co-Founder and CEO at Flexe. “Retailers and brands now have the opportunity to move surplus inventory to lower cost capacity and labor markets in a matter of weeks. We found that this flexibility and speed allows customers to significantly reduce warehouse costs.”
The Flexe Inventory Surplus Markets — Central Valley, CA (Bakersfield, Fresno, and Stockton); Central PA (Lehigh Valley, Harrisburg); Charlotte, NC; Rock Hill, SC; and Atlanta, GA — have significantly higher vacancy rates and lower costs with flexible terms. For example, a 40' container of palletized goods costs ~$561 to store per month in Los Angeles/Long Beach. However, based on recent Flexe pricing data, storing those pallets costs ~$367 per month in Central Valley, CA.
Inventory Surplus Markets allow retailers and brands to position inventory closer to its final destination. Flexe works with enterprise customers to optimize temporary and ongoing warehouse needs, take advantage of low spot market rates and transport inventory from constricted port regions like Charleston or Savannah to Flexe facilities in Charlotte or Atlanta.
“Every brand grappled with unpredictability the past few years. First, a rapid shift into eCommerce, followed by keeping retail shelves stocked. Now brands face a new challenge—storing excess inventory,” said Michael O'Donnell, President, and CEO at Inland Star Distribution Centers, a Flexe warehouse partner with facilities in multiple Inventory Surplus Markets. “With Flexe, we rapidly launch new capacity programs managing excess inventory, seamlessly mix and move goods to DCs, stores or even fulfill eCommerce orders."
To access Flexe Inventory Surplus Market capacity visit flexe.com.
About Flexe
Flexe solves the hardest omnichannel logistics problems for the world's largest retailers and brands. Integrating technology, open logistics networks, and elastic economic models allow Flexe customers to move fast, at scale, and with precision. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Seattle, Flexe brings deep logistics expertise and enterprise-grade technology to deliver innovative eCommerce fulfillment, retail distribution, and network capacity programs to the Fortune 500. For more information, please visit www.flexe.com.
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