Fulfillment provider NewRoads acquires APL Direct Logistics

Gearing up for an expected increase in its business from direct merchants, fulfillment services provider NewRoads Inc. has acquired the consumer direct fulfillment division of APL Logistics. The deal boosts NewRoads’ warehousing capacity by 12% and expands its customer base.

“We did this acquisition for future capacity needs next year,” Fred Forsyth, president and CEO of NewRoads, tells InternetRetailer.com. The two companies decline to reveal the terms of the deal or the names of APL Direct customers that will switch to NewRoads. APL Direct was a unit of APL Logistics, a provider of supply chain management services.

NewRoads will gain a 300,000-sq.-ft. warehouse and distribution complex in Hebron, KY, boosting its overall warehouse capacity to 2.5 million square feet. “Kentucky is an ideal location where we didn’t have a warehouse facility, so strategically it’s a great fit,” Forsyth says.

Forsyth adds that NewRoads sees growth ahead in several areas related to fulfillment. “We’re seeing more customer call centers and strong web-based orders,” he says. “We expect that to continue.” In addition to web and catalog direct sales activity, NewRoads is seeing an increase in activity from infomercial sales, Forsyth says.

NewRoads’s client base includes Restoration Hardware Inc., Avon Products Inc. and American Eagle Outfitters.