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Jewel-Osco opens first micro-fulfillment center

E-commerce facility neighbors Chicago-area supermarket

Russell Redman

December 9, 2021

8 Slides
Jewel Osco MFC opening-Westmont IL-JB Pritzker.jpg
Jewel-Osco

Albertsons Cos.’ Jewel-Osco food and drug chain has launched an automated micro-fulfillment center (MFC) to fill online grocery orders.

Itasca, Ill.-based Jewel-Osco unveiled the 20,000-square-foot e-commerce facility, located next to its store in Westmont, Ill., on Tuesday in a grand opening event attended by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

“We are the first grocery retailer in Illinois to offer this omnichannel solution to our customers,” Jewel-Osco President Mike Withers said in a statement. “The MFC will process orders more efficiently and expeditiously, with all the products our customers expect to find when shopping with us.”

Powered by technology from automation specialist Takeoff Technologies, the MFC is an artificial intelligence-driven rack-and-tote system that prepares grocery orders for delivery or pickup. More than 6,000 totes ferry products from their spaces inside the Takeoff storage system to elevators that move the containers to a decanting area for sorting. Items from the adjacent Jewel-Osco stores also are added as needed to complete customer orders.

Next, ordered products are shuttled to picking stations, where Jewel-Osco associates can fill up to four orders at once. Robots move the completed orders to a separate area for staff to bring to Drive Up & Go curbside pickup customers or third-party delivery services such as DoorDash, Shipt and Point Pick Up.

Related:Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran: 'Omnichannel strategy is working’

Pritzker joined Jewel-Osco leadership and local lawmakers for a tour of the Westmont MFC, situated in a former Hobby Lobby store space, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

“Jewel-Osco hasn’t stopped finding new ways to be there for Chicago-area residents for over a century, and I was proud to join local leaders in kicking off the latest in grocery innovation for Illinois customers in Westmont,” Pritzker stated. “Illinois has a long legacy of leadership in this sector — no surprise given our dominance in agriculture and the ingenuity of our workforce. As our economic recovery continues, Jewel-Osco is helping pave the way to success.”

Serving delivery customers within a 20-mile radius, the Jewel-Osco MFC houses about 6,500 items and can fill roughly 1,000 online orders daily, according to published reports. Parent company Albertsons said Jewel-Osco is slated to open another MFC in Chicago next year with tech partner Takeoff.

“As part of our broader strategic partnership with Albertsons, we are honored to have worked with Jewel-Osco to introduce the first-ever micro-fulfillment cCenter to the Chicago area,” commented Max Pedró, co-founder and CEO of Waltham, Mass.-based Takeoff Technologies. “Our solution makes online fulfillment faster and more affordable, so that our partners can pass those benefits along to their shoppers.”

Related:Jewel-Osco tests self-serve grocery pickup kiosk

In October, Albertsons Cos. CEO Vivek Sankaran said Albertsons plans to open another four MFCs by the year’s end, adding to the three locations already in operation, including two at Safeway supermarkets in South San Francisco and San Jose, Calif.

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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