Major new Walmart hub center beginning construction in SGF metro

REPUBLIC, MO – Another big development is coming to this growing Greene County town, bringing hundreds of new jobs to the Springfield area.

During its council meeting on Tuesday, Republic city officials confirmed Walmart is building a major pharmaceutical processing facility near James River Freeway and Route MM. The project comes almost exactly three years after the opening of Amazon’s fulfillment center, which is located across Sawyer Road and just south of the Walmart site.

According to information provided during the council meeting, the warehouse and distribution center will be one of the Bentonville-based company’s main pharmacy “Central Fill” facilities. Information on the City of Republic BUILDS website reveals the new facility will be nearly 130,000 square feet. For size comparison, a typical Walmart Supercenter is around 189,000 square feet.

According to Walmart’s website, these fulfillment centers use robotics and staff to process prescription orders for Walmart stores across the county. Until recently, most customer orders had been filled in-house at the individual stores.

Caroline Sanders, a Walmart public relations representative, tells OzarksFirst, “These medications are then sent to our store pharmacies where our customers can pick them up at their convenience. As a result, time is freed up for our community pharmacists to better connect with customers and patients.”

Walmart’s new Republic facility will be one of only a few facilities like it in the country and highlights the retailer’s new focus on centralized fulfillment.  According to Walmart’s online job postings, other Central Fill sites currently in operation or planned include Spring, Texas near Houston; Rogers, Arkansas; Orlando, Florida; Frederick, MD near Washington DC; Litchfield Park, AZ near Pheonix; and Plainfield, Indiana near Indianapolis.

During Tuesday’s city council meeting, city officials talked about a developer agreement to construct water mains to the site. Karen Haynes, Republic BUILDS Planning & Development Manager, explained the city would build the lines. Then, the developer would reimburse the city for the costs related to materials and equipment used for those infrastructure improvements.  The agreement is set to be voted on by council members in two weeks at the Tuesday, September 10th meeting.

Derek Lee, a representative for the developer, said the retailer closed on the property last week, and construction is set to begin this week. He explained major groundwork should be underway by next week.

In addition to Amazon and Walmart, the northside Brookline neighborhood of Republic has seen a lot of other new projects in recent years.  Other openings in recent years include Convoy of Hope, Red Monkey Foods, McLane, ROI, Lew’s, Heart of American Beverage, Everything Kitchens, and Watson Metal Masters, among others.  New restaurants and other retail establishments have also opened nearby.

Haynes hinted even more projects are in the works.  She stated the Walmart project “will be the first of several large-scale economic development projects and job centers in this area.”

Sanders tells OzarksFirst that the new facility is expected to be open in the fall of 2026. It will employ 200 associates.

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