Menomonee Falls, WI-based Kohl's says that the 970,000-square-foot facility will initially serve Kohls.com customers in all 50 states, and by 2011 the site will exclusively fulfill orders for the Western region of the country. It was selected for its proximity to Kohl's existing 575,000-square-foot San Bernardino-based retail distribution center, which opened in 2002.

Ken Bonning, Kohl's executive vice president of store planning and logistics, said in a prepared statement that the new warehouse is a response to "the tremendous growth of our e-commerce business."

According to the latest Kohl's annual report, for the year ended Dec. 31, the department store chain's e-commerce revenues increased 38% to $492 million for 2009, while net sales for the entire company increased 4.8 percent to $17.2 billion. The e-commerce sales growth is "primarily the result of increased style and size selections offered on-line compared with our in-store selection as well as the expansion of product categories not available in our stores," the annual report says.

The location is the second distribution center dedicated to Kohls.com orders; the other center is located in Monroe, OH. Upon opening of the new San Bernardino facility, Kohl's will operate a total of 11 distribution centers across the country, including nine retail distribution centers that service Kohl's stores nationwide.