Courtesy Arnoff Global Logistics
By Christine Graf
Arnoff Global Logistics is seeking approval to expand its 40-acre Malta headquarters, the former home of Racemark International.
The fifth-generation, family-owned moving, storage and logistics company has been in business for 97 years and has a satellite location in Duchess County. They relocated to Malta almost five years ago after outgrowing their Albany headquarters.
“We decided to buy the property and create what we call a logistics campus where companies can come to us with a logistics requirement or a logistics problem,” said company president Mike Arnoff.
Approximately 125 of Arnoff’s 200 employees are based in Malta where the company has invested more than $16 million during the past five years, he said.
“We renovated the existing 70,000-square-foot building on the site that was vacant and we’ve since expanded that building twice to about 175,000 square feet. We also built a truck garage on the property,” said Arnoff.
“Encompassing our campus, we also have office space for companies. We have warehouse space to rent, we have Arnoff-managed warehouse space to operate in, and we provide a multitude of different services for our clients in a campus setting.”
The proposed expansion has a price tag of $18.7 million and would include the construction of two buildings. If approved, an estimated 45 new jobs would be created over the course of the next three years. In order to offset the cost of the project, the company has applied for various tax incentives through the Saratoga County Industrial Development Agency.
“We have about 18 vacant acres of the original 40 that we bought, and we are interested in building a 130,000-square-foot warehouse building, and the next phase would be a second building of about 50,000-square-feet that could be either warehouse or office space or something in between,” said Arnoff. “We’ve already done a lot of site work, and we’re in the final design phase. Are we going to get concrete in before winter? It would be great, but I don’t know if that will happen.”
The proposed expansion is being fueled by demand for Arnoff’s warehousing and order fulfillment services. These operations account for one-third of the company’s revenue.
“There is a lot of interest from clients who like the idea of being in an environment where there are a lot of different logistics services being provided. We provide storage services of all different shapes and sizes and solutions for storing and fulfilling orders,” said Arnoff. “We have some customers who just rent space and manage their inventory with their own employees. We also have customers where we manage their inventory for them in our facility. We get all the orders, we pick the orders via our warehouse management systems, and we pack it and ship it however they want it shipped. We work with 10 different freight companies and have our own fleet of trucks.”
As an example, Arnoff referenced a Canadian auto parts company that sells its products in the United States.
“We act as his U.S. warehouse, so he doesn’t have to have any staff here. We provide all of the services in our controlled environment.”
The remaining two thirds of Arnoff’s revenue is split evenly between residential moving/storage and the transport of what Arnoff described as “sensitive” shipments.
“We focus our attention on family moves and executive relocations both locally and worldwide. We are also experts on moving things that require sensitive handling—things like semi-conductor equipment, museum exhibitions, and hospital equipment. Things that are very sensitive and very valuable. This evolved from our experience with moving personal effects of families such as pianos and antiques. That’s become a big part of what we do.”
As the company continues to expand, Arnoff said they plan to remain a fixture in Saratoga County.
“I have two sons and a nephew who are fifth generation, and I’m here to guide, direct, and lead,” he said. “We are very proud to see the company continue, and I believe that we will continue for many years to be a locally present, family-owned business.”