Cotton On Group

Avalon Airport, VIC

Cotton On is well known not only for the popular clothing, accessories and footwear it distributes annually through its network of nearly 800 stores across Australia, but also for its strong corporate ethics and social responsibility. It’s new $27 million warehouse, designed and purpose-built by Qanstruct on a 9.44 hectare site in Beach Road, Avalon, embodies these values.

The company moved to the new warehouse – the first to be completed on the new 40 hectare Linfox industrial precinct – from nearby Lara in June 2018. It is now enjoying the benefits of this well-equipped facility, which provides an efficient hub for the distribution of 300,000 products a day, or more than 100 million a year, across Cotton On’s seven brands

Designed to help keep pace with current demand and cater for planned growth, the 37,375m2 shipping and distribution centre enhances the speed and efficiency of product delivery to the national market.

A fully-racked warehouse, purpose-designed to maximise workflow efficiency, is complemented by packing and shipping stations, dispatch and receiving docks with dock offices and canopies to weather-proof loading and unloading, and a battery charging area for forklifts. There is also a personalisation room for embossing and embroidering custom-made goods.

Typically for Cotton On, people were central to its planning. The facility was specifically designed to create more local jobs to support the Geelong community which it has been part of for more than 25 years, and to foster the growth of Cotton On’s enviable corporate culture.

Behind it’s double-glazed façade, the company has created a fantastic work environment with an open plan office to encourage collaboration, custom-designed training spaces and meeting rooms, break-out areas and staff amenities including a gym and a half basketball court and even a bus transportation hub for the staff bus that travels daily to and from Geelong.

Cotton On also favoured an eco-friendly approach for the facility, with LED lighting used throughout the building and externally, a water harvesting system incorporated for irrigation and toilet flushing, and provision for the future installation of solar panels.

As the company continues its planned growth, the new facility can not only be expanded physically by 5000m2, but also has the potential to increase capacity through further automation, giving Cotton On a wealth of opportunities for the future.