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A fast-growing online sales company that specializes in Amazon consulting has started construction on a new facility that will nearly triple its Central Ohio footprint.
Mixt Solutions held a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday for a 63,000-square-foot warehouse and office building at 8493 Rausch Dr. in Plain City, which is in the same business park as its current facilities. Today, the company operates out of two sites at 8435 and 8445 Rausch Dr., but will relocate to the new building in 2025.
Co-Founder Alex Johnson said Mixt will keep the existing properties, which measure a combined 22,000 square feet of space of the company owns. Mixt will also own the new facility and maintain ownership of its current locations, at least for the time being.
"They'll most likely get tenanted out, but we also don't want to sell those buildings because we might need them again in the future," Johnson said. "We've been growing at a clip of dang-near 50% for seven years now, so it's a little difficult to predict where we'll be in two or three years."
Founded in 2014, the company helps brands sell products through Amazon via logistics, item prep, listing design, creation, optimization and marketing. Last year, Mixt clients crossed $100 million in lifetime sales through the platform, where it has helped execute more than 1 million transactions.
The company's success earned it a top worldwide seller designation on Amazon, as well as a six-time spot on Columbus Business First's list of fastest-growing private companies in Central Ohio. Mixt also is a five-time honoree on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in the United States.
Average sales growth
| Rank | Prior Rank | Company name |
|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Compass Infrastructure Group |
2 | 2 | Pluto Healthcare |
3 | 3 | UpRys LLC |
Johnson said Mixt has added another $20 million in Amazon sales this year, and plans to hit the $50 million mark by the end of the year. The company's current and projected growth has necessitated additional space to store and distribute products.
"We're getting to the point where we have to come in on Saturdays because we have to get products shipped so that we can receive new products," he said. "We're hitting our limits in terms of physical storage."
The new facility is mostly warehousing and distribution space, but will also contain offices, meeting rooms and amenities such as a gym and employee recreation areas that will also be used for cookouts and other events.
Johnson said having more room for the company's growing workforce was another factor in the move.
"We were also hitting our limits in terms of bathrooms and other simple human things you don't necessarily think about until space gets tight," he said.
Mixt currently employs 31 people and will hire another 22 workers over the next several years, generating about $1 million in new annual payroll. It is required to hit that metric because of the incentives it received from Union County and JobsOhio.
The county offered a seven-year, 45% tax abatement on the project site and JobsOhio will cover 40% of the loan for the investment, which Johnson said is about $7 million.
"Built from the ground up in Plain City, Mixt Solutions is an example of how Ohioans’ ingenuity and innovation are shaping how businesses grow in the modern economy,” JobsOhio President and CEO J.P. Nauseef said. “Mixt Solutions’ decision to continue expanding where it was founded will nearly double its workforce in the Columbus region while providing greater capacity for its customers nationwide to brand, market and distribute their products.”
Looking ahead, Johnson said the expansion will also support the company's goal of servicing clients through order fulfillment and third-party logistics. He said Mixt does some of this now, but he wants to bolster that side of the business in the future.
"We do it for a handful of clients, but we can't take that on for 20 brands," Johnson said. "This new facility will open the doors a little bit for us to say 'yes' to more third-party logistics and order fulfillment.
"Those are avenues we have in our crosshairs to give our brand partners an add-on service from a business partner they've already come to trust."
An office hallway inside the offices of Mixt Solutions, an e-commerce consulting company specializing in Amazon.