FreshDirect, an online grocery delivery provider based in New York City, is expanding southward along the Acela corridor into the Washington, D.C. metro area through a partnership with micro-fulfillment brand Fabric. Launching in late 2020, this will enable two-hour, on-demand grocery delivery “of a wide selection of FreshDirect’s assortment” to customers in the nation’s capital.
With a hub-and-spoke operational structure, with its primary facility remaining at its Bronx, NY-headquarters, FreshDirect has positioned the geographic expansion as a blueprint for future service upgrades and expansion into other parts of the country.
In addition to typical grocery items like, vegetables, pantry staples, meat, seafood and dairy, FreshDirect sells beer, cider, wines and alcohol, as well as prepared foods like, desserts, salads, meal kits, sandwiches and a long list of its 4-Minute Meals.
“Fabric’s technology will allow us to turn our existing regional facilities into high-velocity automated distribution centers, speeding our expansion into new markets with two-hour on-demand delivery,” said FreshDirect CEO David McInerney.
The new service will be rolled out across FreshDirect’s D.C. Metro delivery footprint which spans the Washington, D.C., Silver Spring/Potomac and Vienna/Dulles areas. FreshDirect already services New York City and Philadelphia. First launched in 2002, it’s a privately held company.
