Downtown delivery: See inside FedEx Logistics' new HQ at the old Gibson Guitar Factory

General Contractor: Grinder, Taber & Grinder, Inc.

By John Klyce – Reporter, Memphis Business Journal, Apr 5, 2022, 7:40pm EDT

In November 2018, the odds of FedEx Logistics moving into the old Gibson Guitar building Downtown seemed slim. A spokesperson even said the FedEx subsidiary was “no longer considering the Gibson Guitar Factory building as a potential option for relocation of its headquarters.”

Then, however, the company’s interest in the factory was reignited; and in February 2019, FedEx Logistics officially announced it would take over the space.

Now, over three years later, that space has officially opened.

Today, April 5, FedEx Logistics celebrated the long-awaited opening of its new headquarters, the nearly 200,000-square-foot building at 145 Lt. George W. Lee Ave. The sprawling space has been transformed from a guitar factory into a state-of-the-art facility for the global freight forwarder. FedEx Logistics poured more than $50 million into the project, and over 600 employees are set to work there.

“Great cities have great buildings. From this magnificent facility, our employees will collaborate, innovate, and serve our global customers,” said Udo Lange, president and CEO of FedEx Logistics, in a press release. “The FedEx Logistics global headquarters is a vision for the future of global commerce.”

Located near FedExForum and Beale Street, the HQ's features include a large rooftop courtyard, an IT garage and agile room (designed for flexibility), a variety of employee workspaces, a gym exclusively for FedEx Logistics employees, an Iron Tribe Fitness for public use, and a composting program.

Not all employees, though, are expected to be there during normal business hours each day, as FedEx Logistics is looking to adapt to a changing work environment amid the pandemic.

“We are taking a flexible and team-by-team approach as we continue to return to offices when it is safe to do so,” a spokesperson told MBJ, in a statement. “We are growing with the times, and we have worked with our team members to create opportunities for a more flexible, hybrid approach to the work week.”

That statement is in line with what Lange told MBJ over the summer, as he discussed shifts within the workplace. At the time, Lange had already been working from the headquarters, along with a handful of other employees.

“You cannot neglect that we are in a new environment. You cannot just say, 'Everybody will work exactly the same way we did before,'” he said in June. “There are people like me, who want to work all the time from the office, and you have others who are more flexible.”

FedEx Logistics has over 20,000 global employees and operates in 34 countries and territories. The company arranges for freight to be transported from a manufacturer to a customer by road, rail, ocean, or air. FedEx Logistics offers supply chain solutions, air and ocean cargo services, customs brokerage, and trade management tools and data — with the goal of helping clients navigate through the complexities of international cargo transportation.

Amid the thinly stretched supply chains of the current world, the work of companies like FedEx Logistics has become increasingly difficult. Shipping containers and transportation are more difficult to find, and more expensive. Many major ports — like the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach — are extremely congested. So, recently, to help mitigate these problems, FedEx Logistics decided to try a new strategy. It started chartering vessels, and using 53-foot containers of another FedEx subsidiary, FedEx Freight.