By Glenn Rolfe

SEAFORD — The city of Seaford, for decades known as the “Nylon Capital of the World,” will soon be joining the realm of Amazon — the world’s largest online marketplace.

Renovations are ongoing at a commercial warehouse property on Dulaney Street for an Amazon facility forecast to bring hundreds of jobs to the region and serve as a product-distribution hub covering the Eastern Shore and beyond.

“We’re very fortunate that Amazon chose Seaford,” said City Manager Charles Anderson. “I think it plays into a lot of Seaford’s strengths as a growing community. I think we have a strategic location in the region. That’s why places like FedEx are here. I think that played a factor in Amazon coming here because of our strategic location between Dover and Salisbury (Maryland), right over to the Maryland line. We’re fortunate. The jobs are going to be much needed in this community and help us move forward.”

Seaford Mayor David Genshaw also welcomed the Amazon addition.

“To have a worldwide-recognized company name move to your town has its own positive impact, I think. I hope it uplifts the spirits of the people of Seaford,” he said.

News of the Amazon project broke Monday and took city officials a little by surprise.

“This kind of crept up on us and happened faster than what we thought,” said Mayor Genshaw.

City officials do not at present have specific information or details on Amazon’s specific plans, the scope of the project or employment forecast, said the mayor, who noted the efforts of Brad Gillis of real estate services company NAI Coastal in making this deal possible.

“Brad Gillis has done a good job marketing it and brokering this deal with Amazon,” Mayor Genshaw said.

Amazon spokeswoman Jenna Hilzenrath said Tuesday afternoon that the company is looking forward to adding another delivery station in Delaware. In addition to Seaford, new sites are planned in New Castle and Wilmington, with all set to open in late 2021.

“We are excited to continue to invest in the state of Delaware with new delivery stations that will provide efficient delivery for customers and create hundreds of job opportunities for the talented workforce. These new delivery stations represent Amazon’s unwavering commitment to safety, technological innovations and skilled teams, who are obsessed with delivering for our customers,” she said.

In a statement, the company said that since 2010, Amazon has created more than 4,500 full- and part-time jobs in Delaware and invested more than $3.2 billion across the state, including infrastructure and compensation.

Mayor Genshaw said, “Our communication on this whole thing has been through the developer, not directly with Amazon. They (Amazon) responded with ‘hundreds of jobs.’ So we don’t know. The site plans that have come through Planning & Zoning already, I think they are asking for 150 parking spaces. So I don’t know if this is going to be a 24-hour site. Amazon doesn’t let out a whole lot of information.”

Amazon is basing the distribution hub in the old DuPont warehouses that Penco Corp. subsequently operated for years, Mayor Genshaw said.

The hope is that Amazon will be in operation in the very near future in that Seaford facility.

“I can only assume that this is not a three-to-five-year project. I think we’ll see rapid activity. I think you’re going to see this ramp up pretty quickly,” said Mayor Genshaw.

City officials noted that there is room for expansion in that area should need arise and Amazon opts for that route.

“They are starting out with 104,000-plus square feet, but there is a lot more space there in that warehouse. It’s been given the impression that this is what they are starting with, and it may grow into other things,” the mayor said. “In my mind, Amazon is delivering groceries that can only reach so far from (its Middletown location). So you wonder if this doesn’t become something like that to fill the need.”

Mr. Anderson said he has an eye on expansion.

“In talking with the engineering folks and some of the people that I’ve been exposed to, typically, they come into a market the way they are doing here, and then, as they ramp up production, you see expansion in their business model,” he said. “Certainly, that is what we are going to help them with and foster and hope for. And we’re here to support that.”

Mayor Genshaw said the table is already set for such plans.

“This is not a company that we had to give away the store to get them here. They need to be here to operate their business,” he said. “Infrastructure is already in place, all those kinds of things. It’s a great fit in an existing building that had tons of truck traffic. It is already set up to handle that. It’s a perfect spot for this to happen.”

Seaford gained worldwide fame in 1939 when the DuPont Co. chose the city as the site of the world’s first nylon plant. It earned the moniker of “Nylon Capital of the World” during that time.

During DuPont’s heyday in Seaford, upward of 4,000 workers were employed at the plant.

Founded by Jeff Bezos in Washington state in 1994, Amazon expanded from an initial online marketplace for books and today encompasses numerous merchandise lines, including electronics, software, video games, apparel, furniture, toys, jewelry and food.

In 2017, Amazon acquired Whole Foods Market for $13.4 billion.

Amazon’s decision plays significantly in the city’s growth.

“Again, we have not been given much detail on this,” said Mayor Genshaw. “This is available space, and Amazon saw that. Seaford is centrally located, and it’s a great place to have a distribution site to reach out to the rest of Delmarva. We’re excited they chose Seaford.”