{"id":7324,"date":"2025-03-03T07:31:25","date_gmt":"2025-03-03T07:31:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/?p=7324"},"modified":"2025-03-03T07:31:25","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T07:31:25","slug":"ollies-distribution-center-in-princeton-celebrates-grand-opening-bringing-more-than-200-jobs-shaw-local-news-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/?p=7324","title":{"rendered":"Ollie\u2019s distribution center in Princeton celebrates grand opening, bringing more than 200 jobs – Shaw Local News Network"},"content":{"rendered":"


Princeton Mayor Ray Mabry holds a sign to present to Ollie’s Bargain Outlet during the grand opening celebration on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Princeton. The new distribution center is 615,000 square foot, which is about the equivalent of 11 football fields. The cost of the project is $68 million. <\/span>(Scott Anderson)
Ollie\u2019s Bargain Outlet<\/a> distribution center in Princeton<\/a> celebrated its grand opening Wednesday, bringing more than 200 jobs to the region.
About 75 guests were in attendance, including community leaders, patrons and employees. The event began with Senior Vice President of Supply Chain Brian McNabb welcoming everyone by sharing some trivia about an upcoming movie, \u201cHarold and the Purple Crayon,\u201d in which Ollie\u2019s makes an appearance.
\u201cHarold actually works for Ollie\u2019s, and he has an incredible imagination,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd whatever he draws with his purple crayon comes to life. \u2026 But a couple of years ago, Ollie\u2019s leadership as well as our partners took out our own purple crayons and started to draft up this facility.
\u201cWe are officially bringing this facility to life here.\u201d
The distribution center, which employs 200-plus people, is located near Interstate 80 and off of Progress Drive. The 615,000-square-foot facility, about the equivalent of 10 football fields, services 58 stores across nine states. It will grow to over 150 stores, most of them in the Midwest.
Ollie\u2019s Bargain Outlet Inc., founded in 1982, is a retailer of closeouts and excess inventory, selling food, books, housewares, toys, electronics, domestics, clothing, furniture, health and beauty, flooring and seasonal items, among other products. The chain has 462 stores across the country. An Ollie\u2019s is scheduled to open<\/a> in Peru<\/a>.
Princeton Area Chamber of Commerce President Jenica Cole said bringing employers such as Ollie\u2019s that can bring hundreds of jobs to the community is a huge step.
\u201cWe would love to see other employers think about Princeton when they\u2019re looking to build because that helps create jobs, and that\u2019s what we want to see in our community,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are a thriving community, but in order to keep that going, it takes large employers like Ollie\u2019s investing in our community.\u201d
McNabb said community is important to Ollie\u2019s, and the Princeton community has welcomed the new company with open arms.
\u201cWe always say that shopping at Ollie\u2019s is like going on a giant treasure hunt,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we believe we found our own treasure right here settled in our new home in Princeton.\u201d
Princeton Mayor Ray Mabry gave background on the site and the project, thanking previous administrations for their collaborative effort in bringing \u201ca mysterious company\u201d with the code name for Illinois as \u201cwhiskey.\u201d
\u201cWe\u2019re celebrating a long-term relationship with Ollie\u2019s,\u201d he said.
Mabry said Ollie\u2019s already has had a positive influence in the community by using local contractors to build the warehouse, hiring people in the supply chain and getting contractors to bring their goods and services to the area.
\u201cOllie\u2019s is a part of our community now,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re family, and we\u2019re glad to be family. We mean that, and we can see that.\u201d
The mayor ended his remarks by giving Ollie\u2019s a Positively Princeton sign for outside and another for people in attendance to sign.
\u201cIt\u2019s a long-term relationship,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are benefiting from it, and we look forward to continuing working with [Ollie\u2019s].\u201d
The Ollie’s Bargain Outlet distribution center had its grand opening with a ribbon-cutting on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Princeton. Gathered at the ceremony were (from left) Brian McNabb, Ollie’s senior vice president, and Princeton Mayor Ray Mabry (holding the scissors). The new distribution center is 615,000 square foot, which is about the equivalent of 11 football fields. It will serve 150 stores in the Midwest. The cost of the project is $68 million. <\/span>(Scott Anderson)
Copyright \u00a9 2023 Shaw Local News Network
Copyright \u00a9 2023 Shaw Local News Network<\/p>\n

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Princeton Mayor Ray Mabry holds a sign to present to Ollie’s Bargain Outlet during the grand opening celebration on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Princeton. The new distribution center is 615,000 square foot, which is about the equivalent of 11 football fields. The cost of the project is $68 million. (Scott Anderson)Ollie\u2019s Bargain Outlet distribution center in Princeton celebrated its<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t