Many locations provide excellent transportation networks. But then there's the added ingredient when suppliers and manufacturers desire to be near customers, particularly for just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing environments. Tax issues enter in, as does the availability of labor, its cost, and the cost of real estate.

With deregulation making transportation (trucking, rail, air and ocean services) more cost competitive, more companies are opting to have fewer distribution centers since they can still guarantee customers a certain level of logistics performance.

Among the consolidations that are occurring around the country, here are some hot spots worth considering and why.

Last year, Mikasa Inc., a designer, developer and marketer of tabletop products in the United States and select international markets, chose to build a $60 million, 580,000 square foot distribution center in Charleston.

Jacksonville, Fla., has an impressive record in attracting distribution companies. Among them are General Motors, Coach Leatherwear, Pilot Pens, Michael's Stores, Sally Beauty Products, General Electric Consumer Products Group, and Portion Pack-Inc.

"We've seen 3 million square feet come on-line in just the past three years," says Jerry Mallot, executive vice president of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce. "Most select

our area to do large projects because of the tremendous intermodal system here."

Jacksonville not only offers a deep water port, it is at the intersection of three major railroads, three interstates and a rapidly expanding airport.

"We are also farther west than any other East Coast distribution city," he adds. "In fact, we are [due] south of Cleveland, Ohio."

Georgia's ports have been instrumental in attracting distributors. Home Depot chose Savannah over other southeastern locations because of Georgia Ports Authority investments to improve the Port of Savannah. Its distribution center is located near the port adjacent to I-95 and Savannah International Airport. Its site is serviced by both CSX and Norfolk Southern railroads. Additional acreage at the port is also used exclusively by Home Depot to marshal containers on port.

Atlanta, with its access to I-75, I-20 and I-85, and its booming Hartsfield International Airport, is big for distribution. Goodyear and UPS operate major distribution centers.

Hartsfield is one of the country's biggest and most efficient airports. Considered competition for Houston and Miami, Hartsfield is capable of providing rapid overnight distribution to 80 percent of U.S. consumers. Besides an impressive list of all-cargo carriers that service Hartsfield, rail access is available, and the port of Savannah is just hours away.

Nearby, the 260-acre Atlanta Tradeport, a designated foreign trade zone (FTZ), provides offices, warehouse/distribution, commercial and light industrial facilities for shippers, forwarders, brokers, and other related businesses.

Louisiana and its Big Easy compete with other southern cities to attract
distribution. What sets New Orleans and the state apart from all others is the mighty Mississippi River.

The state has six deepwater ports that handle 400 million tons of cargo annually. The Port of South Louisiana's Globalplex Terminal, a new 205-acre intermodal facility, offers assets that include a foreign trade zone, public deepwater docking facilities, and container unloading facilities. Direct service to the Kansas

City Southern and Illinois Central railroads is also available.

Last year Office Depot opened a new office product distribution center that will serve the southeastern United States.

Last year KCI was alone among the region's top five airports in enjoying double-digit growth, further expanding KCI's lead over St. Louis in both air freight and annual U.S. Customs import entries.

With FedEx opening a new 85,000 square foot warehouse and 500,000 square foot apron in November 1997, KCI's role as the region's primary cargo airport should be solidified. In addition, DHL and Burlington use KCI to consolidate freight gathered from a large multi-state area. Given the industrial expansions by a number of multinational corporations with time-sensitive cargo -- Hoechst and Bayer among them -- airport officials hope to support direct international cargo flights in the near future.

Interstate 75, which runs north and south through Cincinnati, Dayton, and Toledo has a major impact on transportation and distribution in Ohio as does I-70, which runs east and west.Best Buy Co., Inc., for example, located a 780,000 square foot regional distribution center along I-75 in Findlay.

Columbus meets many of the critical factors for distribution: markets; transportation networks; available labor; a tax structure favorable to shippers; and overall favorable business costs. Greater Columbus encompasses a region of 1.4 million people, and is within a 10-hour drive of over 50 percent of the U.S. and Canadian populations. I-71 and I-70 converge at Columbus. The area is served by some 130 trucking companies, offers rail links to every U.S. port, and provides air links via its Port Columbus International Airport and Rickenbacker International Airport. The Limited alone accounts for nearly half of the business at Rickenbacker.

"Columbus has effectively developed multimodal transportation systems, making it the logical choice for companies looking to service the United States and Canadian markets from a single distribution, manufacturing or assembly operation," says C. Lee Johnson, president, Limited Distribution Services.

Rickenbacker brings together air cargo and intermodal facilities, U.S. Customs, transportation, foreign trade zone, warehouse and support administrative service. Rickenbacker's 5,000-plus acres comprise over 6.5 million square feet of warehouse/distribution space to such companies as Spiegel/Eddie Bauer, Whirlpool, Sun TV, Landair, Southern Air Transport, Dorey International, Kubota Tractor Corp., Borden's Wallcovering, AmeriSource (a pharmaceuticals manufacturer), Lucent Technologies and Circuit City.

Chicago remains a major distribution center of choice. Its Central time zone offers an advantage to servicing businesses in Eastern and Western time zones. Chicago offers air links to virtually every major city on the globe via O'Hare International Airport, the world's busiest. It also offers rail links to all corners of the country.

Supervalu Inc., a Minneapolis-based food distribution company, recently broke ground on a $37.5 million regional distribution center in Oglesby, LaSalle County. From the 308,000 square foot facility it will distribute to over 11,400 general merchandise and health and beauty care items to 1,500 stores in 12 states.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is building a Midwestern Distribution Center in Olney, creating up to 250 new jobs when it opens this spring.

Memphis, widely known as "America's Distribution Center," is a major national hub for transportation and distribution related companies. Some 200 trucking companies, six major railroads, an inland waterway system operating on the Mississippi River, and superb airport facilities offer distribution networks from Memphis. As a result, companies such as Williams-Sonoma, Square D, Cleo Inc., Nike, Reebok, Asics, Baxter Healthcare, Troll Publishing, and The Disney Company have chosen to locate there.

Memphis' shining star is Federal Express, which uses the city's International Airport as its major hub. With some 18,000 employees, FedEx is not only the city's largest private employer; it is a major magnet for attracting major distribution operations.

Iowa, which offers more miles of roads than do 39 other states in the country, is becoming a major distribution state. Within a 500-mile radius from Des Moines, which is intersected by I-35 and I-80, manufacturers can reach 56 million people or 23 percent of the total U.S. population. Over 70 firms provide trucking and motor freight services there. Yellow Freight System, Inc., operates a terminal in Des Moines and a national customer service center in Urbandale.

United Parcel Services (UPS) uses Des Moines International Airport as a hub for its second day service. Other air couriers calling at Des Moines are Emery Worldwide, Airborne Express, DHL, and Federal Express.

Lennox Industries, Inc., recently relocated to a new 350,000 square foot distribution center in Urbandale, just outside of Des Moines.

"We handle all of Lennox Industries' international shipments to the Caribbean, South America, Australia, the Far East, and most anywhere in the world," says Earl Lewis, Lennox North American Parts Center (NAPC) manager. Up to 1,100 orders are processed and shipped daily from the Lennox NAPC.

Circuit City Stores Inc., also is building a $4 million distribution center in Ankeny to support an aggressive expansion of superstores. The 200,000 square foot distribution center will supply new stores in Minneapolis and Kansas City and other new stores in the Upper Midwest.

Glenn Grambo, Circuit City distribution planning manager, says the company was attracted to Iowa because the state does not have an inventory tax. Nordstrom and American Honda Motor Co. have also recently located distribution centers in Iowa.

The Port of Portland, which oversees the area's seaport, airport, and several industrial parks, has been making substantial investments to improve distribution networks. Portland International Airport (PDX) is currently undergoing the largest construction project in its history to expand the airport terminal and improve access. PDX already offers 400,000 square feet of warehousing space.

The seaport offers advantages in that it is one to two days closer to east Asia than are California ports. The harbor facilities are well served by the area's rail and highway transportation network. Portland is also the western terminus for the east-west rail corridor which runs along the Columbia River. Double-stack train service is available to Seattle and Chicago.

Boise Cascade Corp. has agreed to lease a 225,000 square foot warehouse at the port's 2,800 acre Rivergate Industrial District.

"This new facility will enable us to greatly increase the size of our warehousing operation and improve our channels of distribution," says Larry Barrett, manager of Boise Cascade's Northwest Regional ServiCenter.

Nevada has been cited as a top distribution and manufacturing location for companies seeking easy, cost-effective access to major markets in the western United States and the Pacific Rim. California, the world's sixth largest marketplace, is literally minutes away.

With two international airports, a broad network of major interstate highways and a grid of cross-country rail lines allowing quick access to a market of 52 million, Nevada is home to the West's fastest-growing warehousing and distribution centers.

The high cost of doing business at the major gateways and increasing competition are causing many air carriers, freight forwarders, and shippers to look at Las Vegas's McCarran International Airport as a gateway where their freight can be handled more cost effectively. Consequently, more and more companies are opening distribution centers in the area so they can fly their products into Las Vegas on one of the 850 flights that land at McCarran per day. From there, they can then redistribute their products via truck to a variety of destinations such as Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego and Mexico.

William-Sonoma operates a distri-bution center there as does Levi Strauss. Its 800,000 square foot distribution facility is the largest of its three nationwide.

"From DFW, every major city in North America can be reached in four hours' flying time or less; 98 percent of the population of the U.S. can be reached within 48 hours by truck or rail," says Franco Guevara, DFW manager of Cargo and Trade Development.

Fort Worth's Alliance Airport is a major draw for distribution companies. Federal Express plans to open its $300 million Southwest sort and hub facility there in September 1997 to divert cargo from its Memphis facility. Also located there is Burlington/Santa Fe's 575-acre railyard and intermodal facility.