Chewy.com new Goodyear fulfillment center experiences growth

It’s not a “ruff” life at the newly opened Chewy.com Goodyear Fulfillment Center as it has experienced a vast increase in employees and plans for more growth in the near future.

Chewy.com is an online retailer owned by PetSmart that delivers a variety of pet-related products. It now has seven fulfillment centers with the opening of the Goodyear location.

According to Chewy.com, the retailer features 4.6 million square feet of fulfillment center and over 1,000 brands.

“We’ve been here for six weeks and have already ramped up to over 400 employees,” said senior communications and public relations manager Mara Castro. “Our projection is to have a little bit over 700.”

There is not a set time frame on employee growth because it depends on customer growth. Pet supply retailer Chewy.com offers one-to-two-day shipping, so it will hire more employees as customer needs increase.

As the center continues hiring, Chewy.com keeps an eye out for fitting employees. “We’re looking for folks that, you know, want to grow with the company,” Gregg Walsh, V.P. of HR Operations, said. “We have a really great track record of team members promoting to lead roles and to supervisors, so that career opportunity is there. We have a number of people that have relocated from other sites to here.”

Walsh explained that Goodyear, Arizona and the labor market in the surrounding area was a key component in choosing the location for this fulfillment center. “It’s really important for us to have a great labor market that is going to sustain,” he said. Goodyear has recently become a prime location for commercial development, attracting 3,000 new jobs and $740 million in capital investment.  

Chewy.com also puts an emphasis on training, safety and company culture. New employees participate in an orientation and training in a classroom. On their second day on the job, new employees are paired with what’s called a ‘bark buddy.’

Gary Garrett, Director of HR explained, “A ‘bark buddy’ is a team member that signed up to be a trainer and they’re going to spend the whole day with the team member, just making sure they understand the processes and the training.”

Castro explained that this method allows employees to assist new hires and ask experienced employees for guidance in an effort to create a positive and supportive company atmosphere.