Ingram to Build Dutch Hub for Europe Push

Computer products distribution giant Ingram Micro Inc. said Wednesday it will build a huge European distribution center in the Netherlands to help support its expansion on the continent.

The Santa Ana-based company said the 550,000-square-foot warehouse and shipping center will be one of the largest and most technologically advanced in Europe when completed early in 2000.

The new center will serve the German, Dutch, Belgian and Luxembourg markets. Ingram Micro officials would not say how many workers will be employed there or divulge the cost of the facility.

The computerized, automated facility was designed to be increased to 750,000 square feet as Ingram Micro’s European business grows, said spokeswoman Kirsten Frosh.

Ingram Micro recently completed construction of a 100,000-square-foot computer products assembly facility in the Netherlands, where workers put together components shipped from various manufacturers.

The company now has 11 warehouses throughout Europe, but plans to fold at least three of them into the new Netherlands facility within a few years, Frosh said.

Worldwide, Ingram Micro employs about 12,000 people, including 7,600 in the United States, and distributes more than 145,000 products to more than 100,000 resellers in 120 countries.