Buffalo Market announced late last year it was planning to move its headquarters from Hayward to the Sacramento region, but the company, which has since switched up its main focus, said those plans fell through when it couldn't find suitable warehouse space.
In October 2020, company co-founder Sean Howell told the Business Journal Buffalo Market was looking for at least 35,000 square feet of warehouse space with refrigeration to operate its business, which offered next-day delivery of grocery items, including organic produce.
The move was expected to result in up to 400 local jobs within a two-year span of relocating. The company was working with the Greater Sacramento Economic Council and commercial real estate brokerage JLL Sacramento to find a suitable location.
Howell said Sacramento was thought to be a great location for a move because the company was buying so much produce from regional suppliers. However, Buffalo Market couldn't find a warehouse large enough with the required specifications. The company has since relocated its headquarters to a warehouse in Visalia.
"Our main challenge was availability and finding a place that gave us the ability to have cold storage and loading docks," Howell said. "We couldn't find anything. Some had short leases. Some weren't available for six months. I was shocked. We've found that there's almost no available warehouse space that fit our needs throughout California. In the future we'll probably have to build."
Another development that made Visalia a better location was a change in the company's focus. Last year, Buffalo Market was primarily focused on direct-to-consumer operations, but it has since shifted to a business-to-business operation that moves products directly from the manufacturer to the retailer.
"At the time, we thought we would be focused on consumers in the greater Bay Area and could service them well from a main warehouse in Sacramento, but our distribution business has completely eclipsed the direct-to-consumer side of things," Howell said. "Now we serve all of California, and needed a warehouse more central, somewhere halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco."
Sacramento is still an important market for Buffalo Market. Howell said the company has experienced a 400% growth in business since late last year, and future expansion in Sacramento will see the company working with more consumer packaged goods suppliers that are based in the area.
Howell said Buffalo Market continues to hire for positions in Sacramento, particularly drivers. He expects the local workforce to total around 40 people, including some executive positions focused solely on the Sacramento market.
The company currently employs about 80 people and has several hundred contracted through partners, Howell said.
