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Clockwise from top-left: A parking lot at Citi Field, Photo by chrisswann26/ Flickr; A Kmart sign; photo by JeepersMedia/ Flickr; Amazon trailers parked outside of an Amazon delivery station in Newark, photo by Bloomberg; the former Orange County Register building in Santa Ana, photo by ksablan/ Flickr.
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Amazon’s Hunger for Delivery Hubs Hits New Heights

Photo: Clockwise from top-left: A parking lot at Citi Field, Photo by chrisswann26/ Flickr; A Kmart sign; photo by JeepersMedia/ Flickr; Amazon trailers parked outside of an Amazon delivery station in Newark, photo by Bloomberg; the former Orange County Register building in Santa Ana, photo by ksablan/ Flickr.

What do stadium parking lots, defunct Kmarts, an old toxic mill site and the former printing plant of California’s Orange County Register have in common?

All of them have recently joined Amazon’s vast distribution network as delivery hubs, smaller shipping facilities that function as local post offices for Amazon packages. During the pandemic, the internet giant has undertaken a huge physical expansion to keep up with roaring customer demand for online shopping.

Amazon now has more than 400 active delivery stations in neighborhoods and suburban areas around the nation and is expected to open around 180 more by year’s end, according to data provided to The Information by consulting firm MWPVL International. For comparison, at the beginning of 2020 Amazon had just over 160 delivery stations.

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Clockwise from top-left: A parking lot at Citi Field, Photo by chrisswann26/ Flickr; A Kmart sign; photo by JeepersMedia/ Flickr; Amazon trailers parked outside of an Amazon delivery station in Newark, photo by Bloomberg; the former Orange County Register building in Santa Ana, photo by ksablan/ Flickr.
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