Where Does All My Stuff Come From?

Simplicity and orderliness are key inside a warehouse.

Warehouses are a hidden but important part our modern economy.

Most products that end up in our lives pass through a warehouse or two. Boxes of cereal, gas grills, TV sets, baseball caps, blue jeans – you name it, the product has probably been brought to and distributed through a warehouse.

Racking can extend to over 30 feet.

I've had a hard time coming up with an exact figure, but I think there is at least 1 billion square feet of warehouse space in the United States. In 2010, the 20 largest warehouse firms had 514 million square feet of space.

The size of many warehouses boggles the mind. One warehouse that I photographed was 1 million square feet--so big that 17 football fields would fit inside it. A walk around the outside is a one mile trip.

This warehouse contains 600,000 square feet of floor space.

I was asked to photograph this warehouse for the owner, Dermody, so they could promote it to new tenants. It is currently being used as a distribution space for h.h. gregg and also houses a UPS distribution center.

We don’t often think about where our stuff comes from, but the warehouse is a crucial part of the life of an item – from manufacturing to arriving at your front door.

Many warehouses are automated, and can be operated by only a few employees.