As the holiday season gets into full swing, Coca-Cola consumption rises dramatically. Family gatherings, office parties, school and church functions…everyone will be serving Coca-Cola products. More demand from consumers means more demand from stores. And this year, Rock Hill Coca-Cola Bottling Company is enjoying the benefit of an expanded warehouse facility. More space means much easier loading, which then means an easier delivery experience for everyone involved.
We Had to Have More Space
Company President Fred Faircloth, III said the process of the recent expansion of the warehouse reminded him of moving the company from the previous location near Winthrop University.
“The county is growing and business is growing,” Faircloth said. “We had to have more space.”
In June 2017, Rock Hill Coca-Cola Bottling Company celebrated 15 years at its current location on Mauldin Drive. The goal was to have the construction done by the July 4th holiday, and thanks to cooperative weather during the construction process, the move in day was in early June.
The process began in November 2016 and the mild winter worked in our favor. “We got really lucky on the weather. That made a huge difference,” he said.
“A couple of years ago I knew we were going to outgrow the floorspace, so the board decided the purchase of a piece of property and basically do everything but pull the trigger. I was going to have the plans drawn and have the permits done and have it all out of the way. But as we got into it, we were like a race horse trying to get it finished. We were so cramped. Our business has almost doubled in 15 years. So we had twice as much product trying to cram it into the same space.”
Easier Loading for Our Trucks
“We deliver product in two different ways: 1) bulk delivery, and 2) conventional route truck with roll up doors riding around delivering product. We would have to keep all those conventional trucks outside and then get all the packs built. Sometimes those guys worked until 10:30 or 11 p.m. at night.”
“Now they don’t have to wait around to load. There’s no question that the new space will make Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day and Christmas easier. Those weeks a lot of stores run big specials. You now it’s going to be a long week. It’s just part of the business. But when you have added constraints, because everything is crammed in. Stuff was just on top of stuff. Everybody was just in each other’s ways.”
With the addition of the recently expanded warehouse space, Rock Hill Coca-Cola Bottling Company can fit in a lot more points of sale. The staging area allows for a dedicated space to be used for a much more efficient and speedy product loading. The space might not look a lot bigger to the casual observer, but really everything is more orderly. That order and efficiency translates into even better service from Rock Hill Coke.
Thinking Ahead to the Future
The recent expansion effectively doubled the size of the loading facilities. “We added 4 more loading docks, so now we have 8 loading docks. So we are set for a while,” Faircloth said.
Rock Hill Coca-Cola Bottling Company looks forward to many more years of fast and efficient delivery of Coca-Cola products to the Rock Hill community.