American company chooses cave as warehouse location

In an unusual move, a company in Lenexa, Kansas has relocated its warehouse to an underground cave in a former limestone mine.

The company says that there are several advantages to this location. The cave is unaffected by weather and maintains a constant 68°F temperature. This is important as the company deals in vending machines, and a fleet of vans is used to carry food products that fill up the machines. On cold nights, if the vans were left outside, the contents could freeze and spoil. Parking the vans overnight in the cave warehouse means that food does not need to be unloaded overnight when the weather is below freezing temperature outside.

There are few distractions in the cave. If there is a storm outside, workers do not hear it. Mobile phones do not work in the cave, so employees do not check their messages while working. The business owners claim that because such distractions are not present, their workers are more productive, even though they never see daylight when working. The drivers, they add, get the best of both worlds, as they can load their vans in the cave environment, then drive outside to enjoy the sunshine in summer.

One downside is that lighting bills are higher in the caves, as there are no windows.

Most British businesses do not have the option of relocating to a cave to increase production, but through careful design and installation of warehouse shelving systems and using trolleys, warehouses can be made efficient and productive whether above or below ground.