The company confirmed it is expanding into the growing city near Dallas as a major brokerage firm connects the company with 1.1 million square feet of real estate. lease.
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The food manufacturing giant known for Fruity Pebbles, Honeycomb cereal and Honey Bunch of Oats is eyeing growing cities near Dallas to expand its distribution capabilities in what is likely DFW's largest industrial deal of the year. I aimed it.
Post Consumer Brands, a division of Minnesota-based Post Holdings (NYSE:POST), plans to open a distribution center in Willmar in late 2024, the company told the Dallas Business Journal. said in an April 9 statement.
“As our business expands through acquisitions, including the recent addition of several pet food brands, we are expanding our distribution footprint to optimize service to our customers,” said Matt Engel, senior director of post-consumer brand distribution. We are continually evaluating our network.”
A Post spokeswoman declined to provide the exact location. However, in the just-released DFW Industrial Market Report, commercial real estate brokerage firm Cushman & Wakefield noted that the Post Consumer brand's former name, “Post Foods,” and the entire building's 1.1 million square feet. announced in January that it had signed a lease agreement. Located within Xebec Realty's newly completed His Logistix hub at 1301 Southport Parkway. Post's agent, Brandon Wood of Corporate Realty Advisors, confirmed the lease on April 10.
The building is one of four planned for the site, just across Interstate 45 from the Union Pacific Intermodal Yard.
The deal will be the region's largest industrial lease to date in 2024, according to KoStar Group researchers, who do not confirm that Post is a tenant. CBRE's Trapper Graff represented the landlord, according to CoStar data.
“We cannot confirm or deny this information,” said Rona Stringfellow, economic development director for the city of Willmar.
Willmar, about 15 miles southeast of downtown Dallas, is home to warehouses and distribution centers for companies such as Procter & Gamble, Amazon, Unilever, Whirlpool and Smucker's, according to the Willmar Economic Development Corporation website. There is.
Post Holdings is based in St. Louis, while the Post Consumer Brands division, which operates Post's cereal and pet food businesses, is based in Lakeville, Minnesota. Over the past few years, the company has made billions in acquisitions, including major brands and related manufacturing facilities.
Post Holdings had net sales of $2 billion in the last calendar quarter of 2023, according to its quarterly earnings report.
In recent years, packaged food giants such as Post and General Mills have made huge acquisitions in the pet food space, and pet owners are willing to spend money on premium food for their dogs and cats, making them more reliable. It has become a source of growth.
Post Consumer Brands announced in October that it had agreed to acquire the assets of Perfection Pet Foods for $235 million. And in early 2023, Post announced plans to acquire pet food brands from JM Smucker Co. for $1.2 billion, including Rachael Ray Nutrish, Nature's Recipes, 9 Lives, Kibbles & Included were Bits and Gravy Train dog and cat food brands.
The post-consumer brands division has continued to grow since acquiring malt-o-meal maker MOM Brands for more than $1 billion in 2015. Post Holdings' operations also include Weetabix, the maker of Britain's best-selling instant cereal brand. Michael Foods and Bob Evans Farms make refrigerated foods such as egg and potato side dishes.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct landlord and tenant representation on the agreement and to verify the location of the post facility.
