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E-commerce conglomerate opens “last-mile” facility in Esky

By R. R. Branstrom 3 min read

ESCANABA -- The new last-mile shipping terminal for Amazon that recently opened in Escanaba is the first of its kind in the Upper Peninsula.

After being under construction for a little over a year, the new building at 2602 6th Ave. N. -- off of North 30th Street near Meijer in Escanaba -- began operations on Oct. 8. Fifty individual jobs have been created by the opening of the facility, said company leaders.

The original site plan for a 50,400-square foot “freight terminal” was approved by the Escanaba Planning Commission in February 2025. It was kept quiet during much of the process that the party developing the property was multinational retail giant Amazon, which was founded in 1994 to sell books and has become the world’s biggest online retailer.

As a last-mile fulfillment center, the premises in Escanaba receives trucks from Milwaukee each morning carrying packages that are then sorted by associates in preparation for final distribution. Drivers collect orders for delivery on certain routes, which are carried out same-day to addresses in the local area.

Current delivery area is about a 50-mile radius, but once reaching full capacity, the post should be able to reach a 100-plus miles radius and then finally the whole Upper Peninsula, said one Amazon representative on Thursday.

In addition to creating employment and making delivery times shorter for Yoopers -- in some cases, “shaving days off” -- the opening of a new Amazon facility in the U.P. also creates opportunities for community partnerships.

To show their commitment to local organizations, Amazon presented a large donation to Tri-County Safe Harbor at their ribbon-cutting this week. The Escanaba-based shelter that provides assistance to survivors of domestic assault was given a $10,000 check “on behalf of 20,000 Amazonians across the Staet of Michigan,” said Head of Economic Development Kyle DeGuilio.

For Thursday’s event, Amazon leaders invited local figureheads and media outlets for a presentation and tour of the premises, numbered DLR8.

“We would not be here today if it weren’t for the great support that we’ve had from the City of Escanaba to all the partners of the state of Michigan,” DeGuilio said.

State Representative Dave Prestin and Escanaba City Council Members Mark Ammel (mayor), Karen Moore and Tyler Dubord were in attendance.

When asked to speak, Ammel said, “This is fantastic. This is obviously a need we have; it’s being fulfilled.” Referencing a statistic Amazon had just shared about operations in Esky so far, Ammel noted, “If we’re already moving 4000 packages in early October, I can’t imagine what Christmas is going to be like.”

He remarked that Amazon had already helped the town by footing the cost of extending the road near their facility, and that he was “looking forward to a long, healthy, and mutually-beneficial relationship between the City of Escanaba and Amazon.”

Prestin commented, “It’s really great to see public-private partnerships work effectively to bring facilities like this. … It’s good to see communities like Escanaba being extremely aggressive on bringing vitality to our new region. A center like this can really (lead to) more opportunities in the future,” he said. “I think this is probably going to be a stepping stone to more opportunities for Escanaba and the Upper Peninsula in general.”

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