Amazon opens new facility in Kansas City for same day orders

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — If you procrastinate when it comes to purchasing gifts or you just like to get your packages fast, some of you in the Kansas City area may be in luck.

Amazon has opened a new same day facility in Kansas City, Missouri.

It’s where the magic happens, or at least feels like magic.

You can order a package online at Amazon and it will show up at your doorstep in a matter of hours.

Todd Grimes is the site leader of Amazon’s new same day facility in KCMO. It’s one of only about 50 in the country.

“So it’s a pretty unique and fun service to be able to offer,” Grimes said.

Right now, the facility reaches Odessa, Adrian and Smithville. Come January, it will expand west 55 miles to serve people into Lawrence, Kansas.

There is a catch however. You have to be an Amazon Prime member.

Here’s how it works. All the items come from local Amazon facilities. Grimes said the majority go straight on the Amazon robotics floor. The larger items go on very narrow aisles.

“Then from there, that means they’re ready for the customer to order,” he said. “So once the customer looks at it, sees it, places it to order it automatically generates the order and we pick that item right away, get it packed, send it over to dispatch and have delivery drivers come and pick it up.”

Procrastinators and people who want their packages fast think it’s worth the Prime membership.

“I mean that’s much better than waiting for a few weeks,” said Karla Rosaes-Moreno.

“I like to have everything right there,” said Angel Ewing. “I don’t want to wait on anything. You know, like with Christmas. I want to order it, I want to make sure it’s there right then.”

Grimes said the goal is to offer a wide variety of items.

“Anything that’s a top seller. It can be anything from books, to household items like toilet paper, it’s a very wide range, a lot of electronics,” he said.

The same-day facility is open until 8 p.m. Christmas Eve and closed Christmas Day. As for the winter weather coming in, Grimes said they will monitor the storm on an hourly basis and customers will receive automatic updates if there are any issues with packages.

Amazon is still hiring. They need about 400 more people.