10 best Shopify Fulfillment Network alternatives in 2026

In this article, I will cover 10 alternatives that can help you store inventory, fulfill orders, and run your operations without locking yourself into a 3PL pricing tier.

Context: Shopify Fulfillment Network (SFN) is no longer a fulfillment provider and is more of a service that connects business owners to their partner network of 3PLs. If you’re looking for an alternative to SFN as a 3PL matchmaker, you can check out our partner, Third Person.

What are the best alternatives to Shopify Fulfillment Network in 2026?

The best alternative to Shopify Fulfillment Network in 2026 is Saltbox, with its co-warehousing solution, flexible month-to-month pricing, fulfillment and operations support, and discounted shipping.

Here’s the shortlist with the 10 best options on the market:

Best co-warehousing alternatives to Shopify Fulfillment Network in 2026

Co-warehousing is the category that breaks furthest from the SFN model.

Your inventory stays in a private warehouse suite that you walk into, you decide how orders get packed, and the only fulfillment outsourcing happens when you choose to hire on-site staff by the hour.

Here are four operators worth comparing:

#1: Saltbox

Saltbox is the best co-warehousing alternative to Shopify Fulfillment Network for ecommerce founders in 2026, with Access Plan memberships starting at $349/month, free inventory inbounding, and month-to-month billing.

We built Saltbox around what early-stage and growth-stage ecommerce brands need to win: private warehouse suites and offices paired with on-site operations services, so you can run fulfillment, storage, and shipping from one place.

And all of it sits inside a community of other ecommerce entrepreneurs and a friendly staff that can accommodate your needs.

Disclosure: Even though Saltbox is our solution, I will give you an honest breakdown of why it is the strongest Shopify Fulfillment Network alternative in 2026.

Let's go through what brands like PURioLABS, Shinery, and GOLDN The Brand have used to scale their operations with co-warehousing at Saltbox:

Warehousing and workspaces that fit a startup budget

Whether you're shipping 50 orders a week from a kitchen table or running a small team with a growing catalog, Saltbox has flexible warehouses and office spaces ranging from 70 to 5,000+ sq. ft. across 12 U.S. locations.

You don't need to sign a long-term contract from the start, as you can pay monthly and move into a bigger or smaller suite whenever your business demands it.

Not ready to move into a warehouse space, yet?

Saltbox Access Plans will provide you with a mailing address, receiving services, discounted rates, on-site labor, and an entrepreneurial network.

Explore Access Plans

We offer four warehouse tiers designed for different stages of growth:

• Small: 1 to 2 employees, 70 to 250 sq. ft., capacity for 4 to 15 pallets. A fit for solopreneurs and small teams that want their own dedicated space.
• Medium: 1 to 4 employees, 250 to 500 sq. ft., capacity for 16 to 31 pallets. Built for small businesses planning to grow into the next tier.
• Large: 1 to 10 employees, 500 to 1,000 sq. ft., capacity for 32 to 62 pallets. Designed for teams handling growing inventory volumes.
• Extra Large: Up to 50 employees, 1,000 to 5,000+ sq. ft., capacity for 63 to 125 pallets. Built for larger DTC brands with substantial storage and workspace needs.

➡️ Take a quiz after selecting your location to figure out the right fit, or book a tour and have our team figure out the right amount of space for your use case.

Operations and shipping with support when you need it

Saltbox lets you run operations the way you want: do everything yourself, get occasional help, or hand off fulfillment entirely.

When order volume spikes, you can bring in extra hands by the hour instead of hiring full-time.

Here are the benefits you will get with Saltbox:

• Daily carrier pickups: Drop your packages in our sorting area, and FedEx, USPS, and UPS take it from there every weekday.
• Discounted shipping rates: Parsel, our shipping app partner, gives you carrier rates that would normally require the kind of volume most startups don't have yet.
• On-demand labor: During a launch or busy season, you can hire on-site help by the hour for packing, inbounding, and inventory management, billed in 15-minute increments starting at $45/hour.
• Free inventory inbounding: Our on-site crew receives and stores your packages even when you're out of the building, so operations keep moving.
• 24/7 security: Round-the-clock surveillance and security keep your inventory protected.
• Content studio: Shoot product photos and video in a professional studio inside the facility, so you don't have to rent external space.

Want to see how it works for growth-stage brands? 👇

Save on shipping with Parsel

Saltbox members get access to Parsel, our shipping app partner that unlocks carrier rates and labels most early-stage brands can't get on their own.

The platform works with USPS, UPS, FedEx, and a mix of regional and emerging carriers.

It’s possible to ship orders as late as 4:30 PM and compare carrier rates in-app to pick the best option for each shipment.

Want to try Parsel? You can sign up to Parsel here.

Saltbox locations across the U.S.

You can find Saltbox on the West Coast, the East Coast, and the Central U.S. Here is the full list of our 12 locations:

• Los Angeles, San Gabriel Valley.
• Los Angeles, Torrance.
• Phoenix, Tempe.
• Seattle, SoDo Row.
• Denver, Park Hill.
• Dallas, Carrollton.
• Dallas, Farmers Branch.
• Atlanta, Upper Westside.
• Atlanta, Westside Park.
• Atlanta, Chamblee.
• Washington D.C., Alexandria.
• Miami, Doral.

Interested in one of our locations across the U.S.?

You can book a tour to see it alongside our operations experts. Available Mon-Fri, 8:30 AM-4:30 PM Central Time.

Book a Tour

How is Saltbox different from Shopify Fulfillment Network?

The main difference is that Saltbox is a co-warehousing solution, and Shopify Fulfillment Network is an aggregator that hands your inventory off to a 3PL partner like Flexport, ShipBob, Shipfusion, or ShipMonk.

With SFN, your inventory leaves your hands the moment it ships to a fulfillment center.

With Saltbox, you keep it in a private warehouse suite that you control, with daily carrier pickups, shipping software, and an on-site team you can talk to face-to-face.

A few practical differences fall out of the difference between co-warehousing and an outsourced operations service:

• You can see your inventory daily, instead of only through a dashboard.
• You set your own packaging and unboxing experience, without paying surcharges per kit or insert.
• You pay a flat monthly fee for your suite and membership, instead of fees for storage, charges for picking, packing, and shipping orders, and costs associated with returns, international shipping, or expedited delivery options.
• You can take an order off the shelf and out the door yourself if a customer needs it expedited.
• You are not subject to the kind of monthly minimums.

Saltbox's membership, warehouse, and office plans

Saltbox pricing has three building blocks: your membership tier, your warehouse size (optional), and your office (optional).

Saltbox has 3 membership tiers:

• Virtual: $99/month. A fully virtual membership for businesses that need a professional mailing address (mail only, no packages) and access to the Upstream Entrepreneurs Club community.
• Access: Starting from $349/month. Includes physical access to our locations, the loading dock, packing stations, meeting rooms, and a content creation studio, without requiring a warehouse suite. FBA sellers testing co-warehousing without a suite can start here.
• Warehouse: Custom pricing. Includes flexible warehouse and office suites built for ecommerce entrepreneurs, with shipping technology, on-site operations support, and modern amenities.

Warehouse pricing varies by city. Here is what Atlanta's Upper Westside looks like:

• Small Warehouse: Starting at $1,285/month for 1-2 employees, 70 to 250 sq. ft., 4 to 15 pallets.
• Medium Warehouse: Starting at $2,100/month for 1-4 employees, 250 to 500 sq. ft., 16 to 31 pallets.
• Large Warehouse: Starting at $3,990/month for 1-10 employees, 500 to 1,000 sq. ft., 32 to 62 pallets.
• Extra Large Warehouse: Starting at $5,090/month for 1-50 employees, 1,000 to 5,000+ sq. ft., 63 to 125 pallets.

Office pricing also varies by region. Atlanta's Upper Westside again:

• 1-person office: $520/month for 1 chair and 1 desk.
• 2-person office: $1,030/month for 2 chairs and 2 desks.
• 3-person office: $1,450/month for 3 chairs and 3 desks.
• 4-person office: $1,860/month for 4 chairs and 4 desks.

➡️ You can pay monthly with no annual lock-in, save 10% by paying annually, or save 5% by paying biannually.

Saltbox pros and cons

✅ Get warehousing, shipping infrastructure, and an office in one place across 12 U.S. locations.

✅ Access memberships start at $349/month for ecommerce founders not ready for a warehouse commitment.

✅ Monthly payments with no long-term lease requirement.

✅ Save on shipping costs with Parsel's carrier partnerships.

✅ On-demand labor by the hour starting at $45 in 15-minute increments.

❌ Not available in Canada, although you can handle cross-border operations from our Phoenix location.

#2: WareSpace

Best for: Ecommerce brands that already know their volume and want predictable monthly costs in exchange for a longer lease term.

Locations: 20 cities across the U.S.

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If city coverage matters more to you than month-to-month flexibility, WareSpace's all-in-one billing model deserves a look, with units across 20 cities, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Philadelphia, and Phoenix.

The trade-off: standard agreements run 6 or 12 months instead of month-to-month, so it works better for brands with steady inventory than for founders still feeling out demand.

Amenities and benefits

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• The flat monthly fee bundles utilities, Wi-Fi, security monitoring, and the industrial racking already installed in your unit.
• Members borrow pallet jacks and equipment from a shared pool, and every facility has loading docks built in.
• Outside your unit, members share a kitchen for breaks, lounges, and conference rooms for client meetings, plus on-site cleaning is part of the agreement.
• Units stay temperature-regulated year-round, and members come and go on their own schedule with after-hours building access.

Pricing

WareSpace warehouse units run from $850/month in markets like Atlanta and from $1,000/month in others, covering 200 to 2,000 sq. ft.

Final pricing requires a tour and probably varies by location and unit size.

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Pros and cons

✅ One predictable monthly bill instead of separate utility, Wi-Fi, and equipment charges.

✅ A 20-city U.S. footprint covers most major coastal and inland metros.

✅ Unit racking is set up for you on day one.

❌ Standard contracts run 6 to 12 months, not month-to-month, unlike some WareSpace alternatives.

#3: Portal Warehousing

Best for: Urban ecommerce founders who want a warehouse in the same city as their team, not an industrial park 45 minutes outside it.

Locations: 7 across U.S. cities, including Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Orlando, Manhattan, Los Angeles, and Brooklyn.

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Most warehouse operators stop at the edges of major metros and let you handle the last-mile drive yourself.

Portal Warehousing goes the other direction, putting units inside Manhattan, Brooklyn, and downtown Los Angeles, the cities where industrial real estate is hardest to find.

Amenities and benefits

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• The membership rolls utilities, Wi-Fi, racking, dock access, and security into a single bill.
• Carriers stop by every weekday for outbound packages, and the shipping address belongs to your unit.
• A reception desk and private offices inside the same building let you take meetings without renting a separate spot.
• Members tap into community programming built specifically for ecommerce founders.

Pricing

Portal Warehousing has three space tiers:

• Small warehouse space: 250 to 500 sq. ft., starting at $995/month.
• Medium warehouse space: 500 to 1,000 sq. ft., starting at $1,795/month.
• Large warehouse space: 1,000+ sq. ft., starting at $2,995/month.

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Pricing will most likely vary by location and availability.

Pros and cons

✅ Spaces are operational the day you sign, with no buildout required.

✅ Office space sits inside the same building as your warehouse unit.

✅ Urban-core placement gives you fast access to highways and a labor pool.

❌ With only 7 cities, large parts of the South (Texas, the Carolinas, Georgia) and the Pacific Northwest have no Portal location nearby.

#4: ReadySpaces

Best for: Brands that want broad North American coverage and prioritize industrial infrastructure over ecommerce-specific amenities.

Locations: 38 across the U.S. and Canada.

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ReadySpaces keeps the co-warehousing model simple: lease a unit between 100 and 5,000 sq. ft. on a flat rate that covers utilities, security, and equipment access.

The brand sits closer to industrial operations than ecommerce-first co-warehousing, which means the included infrastructure leans toward forklifts, loading docks, grade-level bays, and 240V power options instead of content studios or built-in shipping software.

Amenities and benefits

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• Whatever your inventory volume, ReadySpaces most likely has a unit that fits, starting at 100 sq. ft. for early-stage brands and scaling up to 5,000 sq. ft. for established operators, with shared workspace zones in most facilities.
• Building access is round-the-clock, controlled through secure entry points and continuous video monitoring.
• Each lease bundles in forklift access alongside loading docks and grade-level bay entry, so you don't negotiate equipment rentals separately.

Pricing

ReadySpaces uses a fully custom pricing model based on unit size, location within the warehouse, and add-ons like loading dock adjacency and 240V power.

You'll need to request a quote.

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Pros and cons

✅ Lease terms can be as short as 90 days, far below traditional industrial standards.

✅ 38 facilities across the U.S. and Canada.

✅ Industrial equipment is part of the lease, no separate rentals or setup.

❌ You'll need to request a quote to get to know its pricing.

Best 3PL fulfillment alternatives to Shopify Fulfillment Network in 2026

Worth saying upfront: switching from one 3PL to another rarely solves the structural complaints that pushed you off SFN in the first place.

• Your inventory still lives in someone else's warehouse.
• Your bill still lives in someone else's pricing logic.
• Your customer experience still depends on someone else picking the right SKU at the right hour.

The three providers below earn their spots because they are the strongest 3PL operators for brands that genuinely want to stay outsourced, not because they fix the structural model.

#1: Flowspace

Best for: Brands coming directly off Shopify Fulfillment Network that want the closest like-for-like 3PL transition.

Locations: Over 150 fulfillment centers across the U.S. and select areas in Canada.

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If you're migrating off SFN, Flowspace is probably the most familiar replacement.

It uses a similar distributed-warehouse-network approach to what SFN's Flexport partnership offers (your inventory gets routed across third-party facilities instead of one fixed location), with a Shopify-native software layer that handles order management, inventory placement, and rate shopping.

Amenities and benefits

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• Inventory placement across a 150-center distributed network shortens transit times to your customers.
• Warehousing capacity scales up or down without locking you into a long real estate lease.
• Standard fulfillment services cover picking, packing, shipping, kitting, labeling, and returns processing.
• The platform surfaces real-time order and inventory data across your sales channels.

Pricing

Flowspace's pricing is fully custom and based on SKU count, order volume, storage needs, and fulfillment complexity.

Based on industry benchmarks, your bill will likely break out into a few buckets: a monthly storage rate (priced by pallet or by cubic foot), a per-order handling charge for picking and packing, the carrier shipping cost (passed through at the rates Flowspace negotiates), and, in some agreements, a contractual order minimum.

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Pros and cons

✅ The 150+ center footprint is the largest fulfillment network on this list.

✅ Shopify integration is a first-class feature, not a bolt-on.

✅ You get the picking, packing, and shipping work done as part of the service, not as separate vendor relationships.

❌ Custom pricing makes apples-to-apples comparison hard.

#2: FedEx Fulfillment

Best for: High-volume ecommerce brands that want their carrier and their 3PL under the same roof.

Locations: 3 fulfillment centers in California, Texas, and New Jersey, with two more planned in Georgia and Indiana.

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There's something to be said for outsourcing fulfillment to the same company that already delivers most of your packages.

That's the FedEx Fulfillment pitch: the platform built for high-volume sellers who want fewer vendor relationships, with inventory stored in FedEx-operated centers and a multi-carrier flexibility option layered on top.

Amenities and benefits

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• Standard shipping reaches 96% of the U.S. population in two business days.
• Inbound inventory passes through a quality control review before going into FedEx's grid storage.
• Carrier choice stays open per shipment, so FedEx isn't your only option for outbound.
• Cloud-based operations platform layers analytics and carrier confidence ratings on top of fulfillment.

💡 Are you interested in how Flowspace compares to FedEx Fulfillment? Check out our comprehensive Flowspace vs. FedEx Fulfillment guide.

Pricing

There's no rate card on the FedEx Fulfillment site, although you can use their site to calculate your shipping rates.

Pros and cons

✅ Decades of carrier infrastructure sit behind every shipment.

✅ Per-order carrier flexibility means you can optimize for cost or speed on each shipment.

✅ Categories like apparel, health and beauty, nutraceuticals, footwear, and CPG are well-covered.

❌ The U.S. center count (3 active, 2 planned) is smaller than what Flowspace offers.

#3: Flexe

Best for: Mid-market and enterprise brands that need warehouse capacity in many cities without taking on real estate.

Locations: A network of 800+ warehouse operators across North America.

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Plenty of providers will run a warehouse for you.

Flexe runs the connections between 800+ of them instead, layered on top of a technology platform that handles distribution, fulfillment, and operator matching from one integration.

Amenities and benefits

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• A single API or EDI hookup gives you fulfillment reach across 800+ third-party warehouses, from major coastal hubs down to secondary and tertiary distribution markets.
• The platform handles warehouse, order, and inventory management inside one interface, so you're not stitching three systems together.
• You see inventory, order status, and SLA performance across the entire network in real time, not on a per-warehouse basis.
• Beyond execution, Flexe layers in supply chain consulting, helping you map a network, evaluate which SKUs cost most to store and pick, and pair you with the right warehouse operators for each market.

💡 Interested in how Flowspace compares to Flexe? You can read our Flowspace vs. Flexe guide.

Pricing

Flexe pricing is custom and built per account.

The model is built around enterprise-scale agreements, and you'll have to contact their sales team for a quote.

Pros and cons

✅ Reaches more cities than any other fulfillment provider on this list.

✅ A single integration handles distribution and fulfillment across 800+ partners.

❌ No published pricing and no self-serve onboarding.

Best flexible warehouse and storage alternatives to Shopify Fulfillment Network in 2026

The last three options focus on flexible warehousing and storage.

What they share is flexibility in how much (or how little) operational support you bundle on top of the warehouse itself, from raw industrial space at one end to opt-in fulfillment services at the other.

#1: Cubework

Best for: Larger ecommerce and distribution teams that need significant industrial space across many U.S. cities.

Locations: 77+ locations across the U.S.

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Need 150 sq. ft. for inventory overflow today and 50,000 sq. ft. for full distribution two years from now?

Cubework's lease structure handles both under the same agreement, with on-demand forklift drivers in every facility and lease terms that start at three months.

Amenities and benefits

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• Unit sizes range from 150 sq. ft. for inventory overflow to 150,000 sq. ft. for full distribution.
• Round-the-clock building access with continuous facility monitoring.
• On-demand forklifts and forklift drivers are available at every location; no long-term equipment leases are required.
• Industrial zoning and high ceilings make Cubework facilities suitable for fulfillment and light manufacturing.

Pricing

Cubework keeps its pricing off the website. Costs vary by location, unit size, and lease duration, and you have to contact them for a quote.

Pros and cons

✅ Facilities sit close to interstates and major freight corridors.

✅ The minimum lease commitment is 3 months, well below standard industrial terms.

✅ Forklifts and forklift labor come on-demand without capex.

❌ No public pricing.

#2: Loloft

Best for: Solo founders or 2 to 3 person teams that want a small warehouse and a coworking desk in the same building.

Locations: 2, one in Phoenix and one in Rogers, Arkansas.

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Under $620 a month gets you a 125 sq. ft. warehouse plus a coworking desk in the same building.

That's Loloft in one sentence, and it works because the model leans more coworking than warehousing.

Amenities and benefits

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• A single membership can cover a coworking spot, a private office, and a warehouse unit inside the same building.
• The membership baseline includes Wi-Fi, a shared kitchen for breaks, and lounge areas for casual collaboration.
• Meeting rooms and classroom spaces are available to book on top of your base plan.
• You can show up at any hour to pack orders or move pallets, with shared equipment available across the membership.

Pricing

Loloft uses month-to-month pricing that varies by space type and size.

Here are Rogers, Arkansas prices:

• Warehouses: From $617/month (125 sq. ft.) up to $1,465/month (1,650 sq. ft.).
• Office spaces: From $425/month for a dedicated small desk up to $1,299/month for a 182 sq. ft. private office.
• Hot desks: From $195/month, with day passes at $15/person.

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Pros and cons

✅ The cheapest entry point on this list for a warehouse-plus-office combo.

✅ Mail handling sits inside the membership, not as a separate add-on.

✅ Parking comes free.

❌ With only Phoenix and Rogers locations, geographic reach is the smallest in this article.

#3: BOXIE24

Best for: Brands that want to start with pure storage and add fulfillment services later, without committing to a full 3PL relationship up front.

Locations: 3 storage locations: Miami, New York City, and Philadelphia.

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Picture self-storage that ships your orders for you when you ask it to.

That's roughly the BOXIE24 setup: storage as the base offering, fulfillment as an opt-in layer, with unit sizes flexing from 10 sq. ft. to 100,000 sq. ft. depending on what your inventory needs.

Amenities and benefits

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• Storage forms the base of every account, with fulfillment services available as opt-ins when you need them.
• When you turn it on, the BOXIE24 team handles the operational layer: pulling SKUs, packaging orders, dispatching to carriers, processing customer returns, and keeping stock counts reconciled.
• Storage capacity scales fluidly with your order volume, from 10 sq. ft. units up to 100,000 sq. ft.
• Onboarding skips the typical real estate friction, with no upfront deposit, no booking fee, and no annual lock-in to start.

Pricing

Business pricing isn't publicly available. You'll need to contact BOXIE24 for a quote.

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Pros and cons

✅ Storage and outsourced fulfillment can sit inside one account.

✅ The unit-size range (10 sq. ft. to 100,000 sq. ft.) covers nearly any inventory level.

✅ Sign up without a deposit, a booking fee, or a yearly contract.

❌ Only three U.S. hubs, all on the East Coast.

Take back control of fulfillment with Saltbox in 2026

Most growth-stage founders looking for Shopify Fulfillment Network alternatives are not actually looking for "another 3PL."

They are looking for a way to stop paying for capacity they don't use, stop guessing about price changes, and stop wondering whether the warehouse picked the right SKU today.

That's the gap Saltbox was built to fill.

You get a private warehouse suite that you walk into, an on-site team that handles inbounds whether you're there or not, daily carrier pickups, and Parsel for shipping rates that startups can't normally negotiate alone.

You also get to keep the things companies like SFN takes away from you when your inventory leaves the building:

• Direct visibility into what is on your shelves today, not just what a dashboard reports.
• Control over packaging, inserts, and the unboxing experience your customer actually opens.
• A flat, predictable cost structure with Access Plan memberships starting at $349/month.
• Month-to-month flexibility with the option to scale up to a Warehouse plan as you grow.
• A community of ecommerce founders working through the same operational headaches you face every day.

Switching from a 3PL to co-warehousing isn't just changing vendors: it's changing how much of your operation you actually own.

If that sounds like the right move for your brand, you can book a tour at one of our 12 locations or explore our Access Plans if you're not ready for a full warehouse suite yet.

⚠️ Disclaimer: This article was last updated on the 7th of May, 2026, and if there's any misinterpretation of the information, please contact us, and we will fact-check it.

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