Day 7-Logistics- 12 Day's of Why It's Great to be in Kansas City

Kansas City is a great place to be for e-commerce and retail companies. Its easy logistics make it a hot spot for intermodal transportation. The city’s geographical location and proximity to a variety of major transportation forms has made Kansas City a desired e-commerce retail hub.

KC's E-Commerce Hub

The technological advances of smartphones and tablets have created an e-commerce hub that allows consumers to receive information and make purchases anywhere and any time on the go. These changes in e-commerce are calling for highly functional distribution centers as the online purchase demand continues to grow and is with the expected to hit 150 million U.S. shoppers by 2015. Kansas City is the largest inland port in North America and has many efficient assets to offer the e-commerce business community. These top grossing e-commerce players call Kansas City home:

• Crate & Barrel 
• American Eagle
• Walmart
• Target
• Kohl’s
• Toys R Us
• Blockbuster
•  Foot Locker
• 1-800-Flowers
• J.C. Penney
• Amazon
• Office Max

Intermodal Transportation

KC is also an Intermodal transportation haven with its many major logistic centers naturally set in place. Intermodal transportation uses one form of transportation then converts to another form. Major railway companies BNSF, Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific, and other trucking companies call Kansas City home. These transportation models have been carefully set in place along with a majority of the U.S.’s highway crossing creating ideal logistics centers for distribution operations. Kansas City’s large available land masses and competitive labor market offer ideal conditions for many e-commerce distribution centers leaving the area to be desired by many.

Intermodal Positives

Kansas City, being a hot hub for intermodal commerce the region will continue to reap the future benefits of being interconnected. According to KC SmartPort, intermodal transportation is predicted to move nearly 25 million containers with a variety of products using trucks, railroads, and ocean carriers while being the fastest form of transportation when it comes to distribution.   Many companies and distributors have a diverse amount of container traffic that requires options when it comes to either railcar or truck transportation and are bringing their business to KC. This business forms a majority of the Kansas City intermodal marketplace and brings a significant amount of distribution to the area. 

The growth of Kansas City’s intermodal transportation is why we’re excited to be in Kansas City! Read more about intermodal transportation in these BRES’s posts “KC is E-commerce Heaven: A Report from KC SmartPort” or “Intermodal Transportation and Growth”

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Contributor:

Michael Block
Principal
Block Real Estate Services
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Lou Serrone
Sr. VP, Brokerage
Block Real Estate Services
LinkedIn