Leading 3PL Freight Broker Acquires Columbus Warehousing Operation, Contributes to Positive Industrial Real Estate Market in Columbus

    COLUMBUS, OH, April 20, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Despite fourth quarter slowdown in nearly every area of manufacturing and distribution, the Columbus industrial real estate markets remained positive, according to a Grubb & Ellis report. Spartan Logistics, a leading 3PL freight broker, contributed to the positive growth in the market by acquiring almost 50,000 square feet of warehousing space from American Warehousing & Logistics. Grubb & Ellis research indicates that the transaction accounted for nearly 15% of the positive real estate absorption the city's southwest industrial submarket experienced in the fourth quarter.

The acquisition was a big move for Spartan Logistics, a well-established 3PL, warehousing and distribution leader. Founded in Columbus, Ohio, the added warehousing space increases the company's warehousing and distribution capacity to 450,000 square feet in the central Ohio area - well over 1 million square feet in Ohio.

"We saw this as an excellent opportunity to increase our presence here in Columbus," said Steve Harmon, CFO with Spartan Logistics. "Adding that location, as well as the increased rail capacity, will really give us an edge in the Columbus warehousing market, especially with the Heartland Corridor nearing completion." The Heartland Corridor is a three-year Norfolk and Southern project expected to significantly increase the amount of rail traffic moving through Columbus.

Although the industrial real estate market in Columbus is predicted to slow down through 2009, according to Grubb & Ellis figures, the Spartan Logistics acquisition of the American Warehousing & Logistics space stands out. Spartan Logistics plans to resume operation of the facility under assignment of current contracts and will retain local American Warehousing & Logistics employees.

In addition to its headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, Spartan Logistics operates additional locations in Toledo, Ohio; Marion, Indiana; and Greenville, South Carolina. These locations put Spartan Logistics warehouses within one day's delivery of nearly 2/3 of the population and manufacturing capacity of the US and Canada.

About Spartan Logistics:

Spartan was founded in 1988, in Columbus, Ohio, to service the growing industrial base and to take advantage of Ohio's central location. Its officers have more than 100 years combined experience in the warehousing and distribution field. Spartan's sales focus has been in handling of food grade materials, glass, paper, and fragile/ high value products. In addition to warehousing, Spartan provides full-service 3PL and transportation services, reverse logistics and warehouse inventory and warehouse management systems.

Spartan has invested heavily over the last five years in custom-designed inventory management software that gives it the full range of warehouse management, billing, electronic data transmission, label generation, and online tracking abilities. Spartan continuously improves supply chain flow for its customers by providing quality service and value-added contributions such as packing, quality control, co-packing, EDI integration and inventory management. For specific examples of ways Spartan Logistics helped customers succeed, please visit http://www.spartanwarehouse.com/.

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