US apparel maker Cutter & Buck has opened an automated distribution center in Grand Prairie, Texas, in the Dallas area, built around a second AutoStore goods-to-person system supplied by Swiss intralogistics firm Kardex. The facility opened on October 9, 2026, extending an automation partnership that began at the company’s Renton, Washington site. Kardex was selected for the project in February 2026 and delivered it on a turnkey basis covering system design, installation, commissioning, software integration and training.
A second AutoStore after Renton
According to Kardex, the Grand Prairie system comprises 50,502 storage bins, 32 AutoStore R5 Pro robots and 13 ports handling inbound and outbound operations, orchestrated by the vendor’s Kardex FulfillX warehouse execution software. An integrated conveyor solution links the AutoStore output with downstream steps including embroidery, order routing, Print & Apply and shipping. Kardex said the architecture is modular, so robots and ports can be expanded independently as volumes grow.
The site follows Cutter & Buck’s first Kardex-deployed AutoStore in Renton, which went live in July 2023 with more than 34,000 bins and 54 robots. That installation was later expanded by 9,962 bins plus additional ports and infrastructure, the company said.
Throughput and capacity targets
Kardex said the Texas system is designed for a target of 1,256 bin presentations per hour, with simulations averaging 1,284 — figures that describe the design target rather than measured operating throughput. Supply Chain Dive reported that Texas is currently Cutter & Buck’s top sales market and that, per an April release from the City of Grand Prairie, the facility was designed to hold up to 10 million units of apparel, footwear and accessories alongside rapid embroidery services.
“The opening of this facility represents much more than additional capacity,” said Joel Freet, CEO of Cutter & Buck, adding that the company applied what it had learned in Renton to a site “designed around where our business is going next.” Fred Fox Jr., President of Kardex AS Solutions Americas, said “what makes this milestone particularly meaningful is everything that led to it.”
Sources
- Kardex, “Cutter & Buck Builds on AutoStore Success with New Texas Facility,” 26 October 2026 — kardex.com
- Supply Chain Dive, 19 October 2026 — supplychaindive.com
- Industrial Machinery Digest, 12 October 2026 — industrialmachinerydigest.com
