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That’s how many new import warehouses home products retailer Lowes will have after it opens a new facility soon in in Nanticoke, PA, according to an article this week in the Wall Street Journal this week. Lowe’s uses these warehouses to serve as storage facilities for offseason goods, a strategy the home-improvement retailer says will help it more efficiently distribute its inventory. The facilities are part of a broader $1.7 billion investment Lowe’s has been making in its supply chain to fill on-line orders faster. That has included adding ecommerce fulfillment centers for on-line orders. However, while many other retailers have focused on building those types of DCs to speed up order fulfillment in a move away from storing inventory, Lowe’s has also invested in new import distribution centers across the country that stow products such as seasonal and outdoor living items until they are in demand. “With our old model, we were locked in a fixed route from a distribution center to a store,” Don Frieson, executive vice president of supply chain at Lowe’s, said in an investor day presentation in December. “Now, we have increasing flexibility to flow product from whatever facility makes the most sense based on product availability and route efficiency.” By waiting to send merchandise to stores until it is needed, Lowe’s said it can free up capacity in its other logistics facilities and reduce the number of items it has to mark down in stores when inventory is sitting in a place where there isn’t demand for it.