Denton just picked up a new neighbor, and it is less forklifts and more robots. Lotte Global Logistics North America has opened its first U.S. automated warehouse in the city, turning a roughly 232,000-square-foot industrial building into a robot-driven fulfillment hub for iHerb. The center went live this week with automation and AI aimed at speeding orders across Texas and the central U.S.
According to a press release from iHerb, the Denton facility at 221 Western Blvd. is leased and operated by Lotte Global Logistics. The companies are pitching the hub as part of a broader push to shave delivery times for Texas customers and boost service into the central U.S. and Mexico.
Local Scale And Early Shipments
Local reports earlier this fall noted that the Denton building quietly started shipping orders over the summer, bringing about 40 jobs with it in the early phase. As Community Impact reported, the site is expected to ramp toward a peak capacity of about 20,000 orders per day once operations fully scale up.
Automation Goes Live
The fully automated side of the operation officially clicked on December 17, 2025. According to The Business Journals, that date marked the formal start of the center's automated distribution systems, with more than 200 robots deployed to pick and move inventory around the warehouse floor.
Korean coverage of the launch highlighted the significance of the Denton site for Lotte. The companies held an opening event on December 17 attended by Lotte's CEO and iHerb's COO, with Maeil Business publishing photos and on-the-ground coverage of the ceremony.
Real Estate Footprint And Lease
Lotte is in it for the long haul, at least on paper. Commercial real estate reports show the company has signed a long-term lease for the building in I-35 Convergence Park. REBusinessOnline lists the lease at roughly 227,420 square feet, reflecting the footprint detailed in brokerage materials.
On the development side, Hunt Southwest describes the property as one of two speculative industrial buildings in Denton that fully leased up this year, a tidy illustration of just how tight industrial demand has become across the Dallas Fort Worth region.
Automation And Jobs: Local Trade-Offs
For all the dazzling robotics, the human side of the equation is more complicated. Labor economists have long noted that highly automated fulfillment centers typically support fewer traditional picker and packer roles than older-style warehouses, even as they add technical positions in maintenance and IT.
The Economic Policy Institute has argued that large automated e-commerce facilities do not always translate into broad-based employment growth in surrounding communities. Its analysis underscores the trade-offs local leaders and workforce groups in Denton will be watching as the facility scales up.
Lotte, for its part, is treating the Denton hub as a beachhead for a wider North American expansion and a way to export its AI-driven “smart fulfillment” model to U.S. customers. In its release, iHerb said the center is expected to shorten delivery times across the region as hiring continues and the operation moves toward full capacity.
