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Since starting operations in June 2023, Tomball’s Macy’s/Bloomingdale's Fulfillment Center has risen to such a consequential status within the company that colleagues frequently refer to the facility as “The Great State of Tomball”. The fulfillment center’s economic productivity and overall efficiency make it easy to understand why some see the building as even more than a sprawling, 900,000 square-foot distribution dynamo.
Thomas Hill, Supply Chain Facilities Leader for Macy’s Inc., has managed operations at the Tomball fulfillment center since he relocated to Texas from Chicago in November 2023. However, the move was more of a homecoming than a transfer for the near 30-year Macy’s employee.
During his time working for Macy’s former distribution center in the East End of downtown Houston – a site the company sold after pinpointing its new Tomball location, Hill and his family moved to Tomball in 2002. After a brief two-year stint working for Macy’s in Chicago, he’s now overseeing a facility in his hometown.
“It doesn’t get much better than this – it’s a dream come true,” Hill said of the opportunity to serve Macy’s in the city his family has called home for nearly a quarter-century. “I’ve always loved Tomball. People now gravitate toward this facility. Several of our employees have relocated to this area, and I often hear them say they wish they’d done so sooner.”
Early in 2022, Macy’s was announced as the inaugural tenant of Lovett Industrial’s Interchange 249 project. The 240-acre site, situated at the nexus of State Highway 249 and State Highway 99, will ultimately boast 10 buildings encompassing 3.1 million square-feet of warehouse and light industrial development.
“I’m so proud of it,” Hill said of the fulfillment center. “Whenever we have visitors in town, we drive them right down Highway 99 so they can see the big sign on the side of the building. We hosted our regional meeting here in Tomball this year, and it was great to show off the building and the area.”
Any items customers see in a Macy’s store located in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas or some parts of Alabama originated from the fulfillment center in Tomball. The site is also responsible for home deliveries of furniture or bedding in those same states.
The mission of the Tomball facility is to not only meet the standard of its customers, but to exceed their expectations.
“I won’t say it’s effortless, because we’ve built up the chemistry to achieve this – but sometimes I refer to it as Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory,” Hill remarked of the efficiency of his teams. In this era of lukewarm customer service, we have an opportunity to shine.”
Hill says Tomball’s fulfillment center currently employs 89 workers and houses 10 to 15 third-party vendors each day.
Macy’s 35-mile move from Houston to Tomball was propelled, in part, by the Tomball Economic Development Corporation’s (TEDC) economic incentive program. Through a project grant agreement, the TEDC recently presented a check to Macy’s for $324,987.19.
“We could not ask for better partners,” Hill said of the collaboration between the TEDC and Macy’s. “They are a class act and always there to assist with whatever you need. I can’t imagine anyone having it any better than we have here in Tomball.”
Hill notes, in addition to capital investment and job creation, he and his team are committed to doing even more for the city and region.
“Our employees have wrapped their arms around being in Tomball,” Hill stated about Macy’s’ community engagement efforts through various local organizations like the Greater Tomball Area Chamber of Commerce and Tomball Emergency Assistance Ministries (TEAM). He also revealed his operations currently do not utilize all 900,000 square-feet of the facility. Therefore, Hill has made sure his bosses are aware that Tomball is ready, willing and able to handle more from Macy’s – a move that would further elevate the site’s status as “The Great State of Tomball”.