TONAWANDA, NY (WKBW) — The popular national retail chain Wayfair quietly opened a warehouse in Tonawanda Monday off Young Street. But hold off on making shopping plans.
7 Eyewitness News senior reporter Eileen Buckley met some people who found out this is only a distribution center not a store.
The famous Wayfair logo is already luring some curious consumers into the Benderson Youngmann Development Park.
“My wife saw something on Facebook and based on what she saw – it sounded like this might be a retail location, so she goes – 'let's go check it out', so we came over and found out it’s not a retail location,” explained Joe Ball, Tonawanda resident.
It’s a new 30,500 square foot Wayfair warehouse that will serve as a hub to deliver products here in Western New York.
Ball and his wife Linda, who live nearby, were welcomed into the warehouse by a manager.
It’s a distribution center Wayfair will use to deliver large parcels that cannot be handled by UPS or FedEx.
“We went inside and they politely told us this and gave us a peek. There's dressers and bedroom sets and all kinds of bigger things in there that they'll figure out how to get to the end customer,” Ball noted.
“It could also be delivered to your front porch – or if you needed set up – they could also set it up for you,” said Ball’s wife Linda.
We reached out to Wayfair's corporate office. A spokesperson says the Tonawanda facility is quote a "last-mile delivery agent for large parcel home delivery."
One of the managers came out to greet us. He says there just handful of new workers at the warehouse to get started.
And even though the Ball’s could not shop at the warehouse, they are excited to see this major retail chain with a presence in our region.
“It's pretty cool. The gentleman said they will probably deliver all the way to Fredonia from here,” Ball remarked.
