Department store retail chain Belk Inc. will expand its e-commerce distribution and fulfillment center located in South Carolina.

“Our e-commerce business continues to grow very quickly and we need to invest in our fulfillment capabilities to keep pace with that growth,” says John R. Belk, Belk president and CEO. 

Belk launched its website in 2001. It says this year’s online sales increased nearly 45%  year over year during the third quarter (ended Nov. 2) and were up nearly 53% for the fiscal year to date.  In 2012, web sales increased 86.74% year over year, according to data from Internet Retailer’s Top500Guide.com. Such growth sparked the expansion.

In 2013, Belk Inc. spent $9 million for additional space at the 500,000-square-foot facility in Jonesville, SC, and plans to invest another $32 million next year to further increase the center’s capacity with renovations. This center and the company’s Pineville, NC, e-commerce warehouse serve the retailer’s digital business. 

The company expects to add some 170 jobs at the two e-commerce centers by the end of 2015 in addition to the 124 jobs Belk announced it would add in 2012.  Belk Ecommerce LLC is No. 162 on Internet Retailer’s Top 500 list.