Maine’s first Amazon location, a 12,000-square-foot delivery station in Caribou, opened Friday morning, a company spokesperson said in a release.
The facility, which the Bangor Daily News first broke the news of in June, has been in the works for more than two years. Located at 33 Aldrich Drive, it is a part of the world’s largest online retailer’s more than $4 billion effort to control its last-mile delivery service in rural areas nationwide, cutting out carriers such as UPS, FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service.
Initial service will be confined to the Caribou area, the spokesperson said, but the company expects to expand to the Fort Fairfield area “in the near future.”
“We’re thrilled to launch our first operations facility in Maine and bring faster delivery to our customers in Caribou,” Jonathan Greeley, Amazon principal for Economic Development said in the release. “The Caribou delivery station represents an exciting milestone in our commitment to serve customers in rural communities, and we’re grateful to the town for their partnership during this process.”
Deliveries will be conducted at least in part by drivers in the Amazon Flex program, who function as independent contractors and make deliveries in their own vehicles. The program will have representatives at the WAGM & Career Center Job Fair at the Caribou Wellness & Recreation Center on Sept. 18.
Amazon has recently opened several large fulfillment centers in New England, including two in Massachusetts and one in Rhode Island. At those warehouses, items are packed and shipped to delivery stations.
The company’s recent effort to expand its rural delivery network will cut into the revenue of other carriers.
A 2023 analysis found that 11.8 percent of UPS revenue came from delivering for Amazon, a figure that has been steadily declining in recent years as Amazon expanded its rural network.
