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Early Black Friday deals mean more daily packages. How Amazon's Philadelphia facility is preparing

By
Madeleine Wright
Madeleine Wright
Madeleine Wright is a bilingual general assignment reporter for CBS News Philadelphia who is fluent in Spanish. She joined the team in January 2022 and was named the Delaware County reporter in July 2023.
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Madeleine Wright

/ CBS Philadelphia

Black Friday is more than a week away, but Amazon is already kicking off its holiday deals. With launching Thursday, the company's facility in Northeast Philadelphia is preparing for a surge in online orders.

The 300,000 square foot facility in Tacony typically processes about 50,000 packages a day. During the holiday peak, that jumps to 60,000.

"It gets very busy," Isata Jalloh, a warehouse associate, said. "A lot of people depend on us for orders, and we do get a lot of orders being same-day delivery."

Jalloh works alongside robots that bring shelves packed with products directly to employees.

"[They] move the bins to the location where they associates are at, which allows us to reduce walking time for associates," Amazon site leader Darryl Barreto said. "It allows them to be safer to operate than in traditional warehouses where employees will have to walk the entire facility."

Barreto said artificial intelligence plays a major role behind the scenes. The system tracks buying patterns and helps determine what inventory should be stocked, a process the company calls "supply chain optimization."

"It's something we're investing heavily in," Barreto said.

To keep up with the increased demand, Amazon is adding 250,000 seasonal workers nationwide. That includes 100 seasonal workers at the Tacony location.

For employees like Jalloh, the seasonal rush is personal.

"A lot of us shop here too," she said. "So we know the importance of getting the packages out on time."

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