JAXPORT Partner Spotlight: Wayfair

2 MIN READ

Written by: Marcia Pledger

Wayfair Inc. is a Boston-based e-commerce company that sells furniture and home goods online, including patio furniture, lighting and rugs, as well as tableware, curtains, appliances, decor and pillows.

With millions of customers worldwide, the company operates 18 fulfillment and 38 delivery centers nationwide and abroad, including a one-million-square-foot Jacksonville warehouse.

For the last six years, Wayfair has shipped products through JAXPORT terminals. As a global company focused on satisfying customers, a strong supply chain is key to its success.

Kenneth Sine, Head of Global Procurement at Wayfair, said Jacksonville’s ease of doing business and strong talent pool stand out for him.

“When we look at our ecosystem, our partners are an extension of our company, and therefore, we require our vendor partners to be responsive, decisive, transparent and approachable,” Sine said. “JAXPORT is all of these and has always been approachable with a mindset of being a client advocate.”

Sine travels extensively—more than 200 days a year—so for him, the best part of his job is meeting people with whom Wayfair does business personally.

“This allows my team and I to be more informed and also be more empathetic to the challenges our industry faces on occasion,” he said. “My biggest challenge is trying to keep everyone happy and being mindful of the impact decisions have downstream.”

Because Wayfair is one of the world’s largest home retailers, Sine is delighted about JAXPORT’s new trade lane to India, made possible by a direct service between Jacksonville and India through ocean carrier Ocean Network Express’s (ONE) new West India North America (WIN) container service.

“The service is the Jacksonville Port Authority’s first direct container service with the Indian subcontinent,” he said.

Container-handling improvements, new cranes, a deeper shipping channel and other terminal investments are enhancing the movement of cargo through Jacksonville.

Sine said he is looking forward to the completion of the $72 million project to expand and modernize the SSA Jacksonville Container Terminal at JAXPORT’s Blount Island terminal. Once completed in 2025, the facility will feature 97 acres of newly paved asphalt that will accommodate taller stacks of loaded containers, with the capability to further expand the terminal up to 120 acres.

As demand for goods continues to grow along with the region’s population, Wayfair is expanding its Florida footprint.

“The state of Florida is a growing state for our company, specifically with further store expansion in South Florida,” Sine said. “We continue to scale our logistics operations in the state of Florida to support the incredible growth of our business.”

Furniture is the No. 1 commodity that moves through JAXPORT, with more than 40,000 containers of furniture crossing the docks in 2023.