Flat River Group sees continued growth, opens new distribution center in Kentwood

KENTWOOD — To take pressure off of its existing two facilities, Flat River Group recently announced the opening of a new 160,000 square foot distribution center in Kentwood.

The facility is at 3729 Patterson Ave. SE, near the Gerald R. Ford International Airport.

Flat River Group was established in Belding in 2011 and serves as a distributor of niche and mainstream toy and game products. It also acts as a full service provider for warehousing and fulfillment to a variety of eCommerce retailers in the U.S. and Canada.

The new Kentwood distribution center is in the same facility as its additional 160,000 square foot warehouse, but the two spaces are not adjacent. The facility is owned and operated by Sibsco, LLC.

“It’s just a great location and gets us closer to UPS and FedEx hubs and to Grand Rapids — it buys us a little time to get into their networks,” Flat River Group co-founder and president Matt Stahlin told MiBiz.

While many other businesses have struggled through the COVID-19 pandemic, Flat River Group has grown following the tailwinds of eCommerce giants like Amazon.

“Our largest two customers are Amazon and Walmart.com and they were very strong while much of the country was shut down,” Stahlin said. “They were benefiting off that and we were taking pressure off of their supply chains because we ship direct to consumers for Walmart.com and a good chunk of our Amazon business is shipping to their consumers as Amazon.

“A lot of people have been starting to buy goods online when they haven’t in the past and they discovered it was pretty easy and maybe don’t want to go to a store right now.”

Stahlin said Flat River Group has hired around 20 people since May and plans to hire 20 to 30 more employees before the end of the year. He also said operations at the other Kentwood facility, and the company’s 160,000 square foot home base in Belding, will remain unchanged.