New Wichita-area Amazon facility about to open, so what’s that mean for shoppers?

In March, Amazon announced it was opening a new last-mile facility — the last stop for packages before they hit customers’ door steps — on 20 acres in the Sunflower Commerce Park in Bel Aire.

Now, the 176,000-square-foot space is almost ready, and the company has begun hiring about 100 workers.

So what does that mean for people who use Amazon in the greater Wichita area?

Ideally, faster service. Specifically, more consistency with what the company calls its two-day promise.

“We always try to deliver on that two-day promise,” said Jason Vangalis, Amazon’s manager of economic development in Kansas.

Some Wichita-area shoppers used to have more of that two-day service, but that has seemed to slip over the last year or so.

Vangalis said that may be due to the products those customers were buying.

Regardless, he said the goal is a two-day turnaround — if not faster.

“We’re seeing some of that opportunity for same-day shipping . . . to occur,” Vangalis said.

This spring, the online giant announced a $4 billion investment in facilities across rural America.

Amazon already has warehouses in Wichita and Park City, but Vangalis said the Bel Aire facility adds more capacity for the area.

“We continue to invest in this market.”

Vangalis said Amazon has invested almost $9 billion in Kansas since 2010 and has more than 7,000 employees here.

The new jobs in Bel Aire are mostly hourly positions with an average wage of $22 an hour for sorting, package handling and organizing routes for drivers.

To learn more, check out www.amazon.com/jobs.

In addition to the Bel Aire facility, which will open by the end of this year, Amazon has new ones that opened last month in Salina and Garden City.

Vangalis said he can’t say if more facilities will be coming to the Wichita area in the next year or two because the company doesn’t comment on future plans.