The Stride Rite Corporation

A 544,000 square foot distribution facility for the Stride Rite Corporation was completed in 1993 in Louisville, Kentucky.

General and Tilt-Up contractor for the project was the Miller Valentine Group, Dayton, Ohio. Lockwood, Jones and Beals, also of Dayton, served as both architects and engineers.

Built on a 40-acre parcel in the Louisville and Jefferson County Riverport industrial development area, the new facility is state-of-the-art. It includes nearly 250,000 square feet of high bay storage, racked to 36 feet and with a ceiling height of 38 feet. Extensive truck-docking facilities serve the warehouse.

The distribution center also includes over 12,000 square feet of office space and an employee fitness center. About 250 people are employed at the Stride Rite center. A 40 foot post-tensioned firewall separates the two portions of the building. The firewall is cantilevered from the footing and is designed to stand if either side of the structure is destroyed by fire. Panels are 10 inches thick and weigh an average of 74,000 pounds each.

A painted finish was used on the building.

Total cost of the project, including plant and equipment, is estimated to be in excess of $20 million.

The Stride Rite Corporation, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, manufactures footwear for children under the brand names Stride Rite, Keds, and Prokeds, and casual footwear for adults under the brand names Sperry Top-Sider, Keds, Prokeds, and Grasshoppers.

The new Louisville distribution center will give Stride Rite faster response times in fulfilling customers' orders. Fast response time is necessary in the highly competitive apparel business.

Stride Rite spent several months searching for a site that it believed would best accommodate company growth and improve customer service. The company chose Louisville in early 1993.