Ulta Beauty's first distribution center in California now calling Fresno home

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The walls are up at Ulta Beauty's new distribution center in Southwest Fresno. But it's taken months to turn Ag land into a commercial business that will soon house hundreds of employees, sending beauty products around the country.

Fresno Mayor Lee Brand said, "We had the right business elements. The right geographical location in California, the right weather, a big enough urban base to have a substantial labor supply, the cost of the building. All of that works in our favor."

Brand likes the progress he's seeing, he said the area in Southwest Fresno, known as the "Reverse Triangle", features an e-commerce business boom with Amazon and Ulta going up. The nearby 41 and 99 will help drivers goods get shipped far north to Canada and as far south as Mexico.

Both Ulta and Amazon combined are expected to fill about 3,000 positions for their new centers.

Brand said, "The bad news is we have a lot of underemployed people. The good news is, now we have solutions to fill these slots. These people are working with social services and other agency sought to get them trained."

The city is working to get people trained and ready. Ulta has hired its leadership positions to work in the new 670,000 square foot distribution center at the Northeast corner of East and Central Avenues.

Recently they started hiring mechanics and clerks. Online, people can start applying for material handlers or associate positions.

Brand said, "The orders come in, the computerized labels, they're sorted, probably electronically and robotically-- but there's always humans there making sure those things get out and are done properly."

The city offered companies a tax incentive per job, which they say will in turn, over a long period of time, will bring a $40-million to $50-million impact to our area.

Now other companies are looking at expanding.

"I think we are on the forefront here in Fresno on this new type of economy, and we're hoping to really capitalize on it," said Brand.

Ulta will be hiring during the next six months. They plan to begin shipping to stores and online guests in July.