Since entering the 3PL warehousing market back in 2017, Gardewine has seen continuous growth and steady demand for warehousing & inventory management services. As a result, on September 1, 2022, Gardewine proudly opened its newest and largest indoor warehouse located at 120 Burnett Avenue, formerly the DeFehr Furniture manufacturing facility. 

Up until early July, the facility operated solely as a manufacturing facility producing furniture shipped to clients globally under the DeFehr brand. Upon ceasing operations in early July, the DeFehr staff and contractors began the massive undertaking of converting the facility from industrial manufacturing to a food-grade warehouse in a span of less than two months. 

“There were many sleepless nights and seven-day weeks put in by both our staff and our contractors during the dead of summer,” stated Andrew DeFehr, President & COO, DeFehr Furniture. 

Since the conversion to a food-grade warehouse facility, the state-of-the-art 111,000-square-foot warehouse space now includes features such as new LED lighting, newly poured concrete floors in many areas, and the construction of a 525-foot-long demising wall for food grade segregation from the rest of the facility. In addition, the warehouse racking model features an engineered “double-deep” optimization layout and is expected to be fully erected and operational by January 2023. The double-deep model promotes a highly efficient usage of space and will allow the facility to accommodate nearly 7,000 pallet positions. 

To complete pallet transfers in and out of the racking, Gardewine has invested in deep-reach lift equipment capable of hydraulically extending its forks to reach pallets positioned on the inner banks of the racking. 

“The deep-reach forklifts are a new concept to our company and our staff, so to ensure an adequate level of confidence and safety for all, we utilized an external training company to provide certification to our staff which everyone has greatly appreciated,” states Jorden Kehler, Director of Logistics, Warehousing & Dedicated Services. 

Gardewine has also been fortunate enough to bring on a crew of five highly experienced logistics and warehouse staff members who spent a combined 82 years with DeFehr and Palliser Furniture prior to joining Gardewine. Warehouse manager Mike Penner states, “Our time at DeFehr was great but we are extremely pleased we get to try something new and make the transition to Gardewine while remaining in the location we have always been. It’s almost a perfect situation for our team.” In terms of the change in operations from furniture to food, Penner continues “The transition from industrial to food-grade warehousing operations has been a process of learning for all, but has been highly rewarding as it fills a unique need for Gardewine and its clients by providing a fully food-grade warehouse facility which is FDA registered and holds a Government of Manitoba Food Handling Certification.” Gardewine shares this excitement described by Penner and his team as it provides innovative future growth opportunities.