Industries
Wholesale & Retail Logistics
Built to Grow With Your Network
High-density storage systems engineered for the scale, product variety, and growth demands of wholesale and retail distribution networks.
Pallet Flow
Pushback
Carton Flow
The Storage Challenge
Wholesale distributors and retail networks manage a wide product mix, varying pallet weights and dimensions, seasonal inventory swings, and the need to balance storage density with pick accessibility across growing store and warehouse networks.
Wide Product Mix
Retail and wholesale operations often carry a broad range of pallet weights, dimensions, and SKU types within the same facility, requiring flexibility rather than a single fixed configuration.
Balancing Density with Pick Accessibility
Maximizing storage density can't come at the cost of slowing down picking, the right system needs to deliver both.
Replacing Underutilized Storage as Networks Grow
As store networks expand, older storage methods often fall well short of their theoretical capacity, real-world utilization can lag well behind what the racking was designed to deliver.
Explore the Systems
The systems most commonly specified for wholesale and retail logistics applications across North America.
Pallet Flow Racking
Used to stage full pallets for shipment or support high-volume case picking across wholesale and retail distribution networks.
Why it fits
Efficient staging for shipment, high-volume case picking, configurable lane depth.
Pushback Racking
A proven fit for retail distribution, capable of dramatically improving occupancy over drive-in racking as store networks grow.
Why it fits
Multi-SKU density, significantly higher occupancy than drive-in storage, proven in large-scale retail distribution installations.
Carton Flow Racking
For case and carton-level picking, giving retail distribution centers more pick faces in the same footprint than standard rack or shelving.
Why it fits
More pick faces per square foot, reduced pick paths, improved picking efficiency.
Dollarama
Pushback Racking
Wholesale & Retail Logistics
How Dollarama Turned Honeycombing Into 90% Occupancy
Dollarama is a leading dollar store retailer with over 1,600 total stores in operation. It is serviced by three existing distribution centres totalling over 1,250,000 square feet.
The Challenge
With high growth continuing, Dollarama needed additional warehousing to meet the demands of the new stores. They also had to develop a high-density layout to ensure they could maximize the use of the space they built.
The Solution
In 2016, Dollarama broke ground on a new state of the art 500,000 square foot distribution center. Working in conjunction with Etalex, a leading rack manufacturer based in Montreal, and 3D Storage Systems, over 53,000 pallet positions of 6 deep pushback were installed in the new facility.
Dollarama has been a longtime user of 3D’s low profile pushback, with the first installation dating back to 2003. Historically Dollarama had used drive-in racking to store material within their warehouse facilities. However, they were finding that honeycombing was leading to space utilization rates lower than 70%. By switching to pushback, they were able to still achieve a high-density layout but also increase the utilization rate to over 90% (see our section on Pushback Justification for more detail on this topic). Since 2003 Dollarama replaced a number of the drive in rack systems with pushback to increase their storage capacity.
> 90%
Occupancy rate
8946
lanes of 6-deep pushback
100,000+
square feet saved vs. drive-in
Product Specifications
- 8,946 lanes of 6-deep low-profile pushback
- Over 90% occupancy rate
- 85% more storage density versus standard selective rack
- Over 100,000 square feet saved versus drive-in rack
- Linked carts with welded steel shafts and lane full indicators
- Reinforced roll-formed frames with structural steel bullnose protection
Ready to Talk About Your System?
Talk to our team about system configuration for wholesale and retail logistics storage, technical specifications, or dealer partnership opportunities.