Amazon opens its first Upper Peninsula delivery station in Escanaba, promising two-day shipping where packages took a week

ESCANABA, Mich. — Amazon’s first delivery station in the Upper Peninsula is up and running in Escanaba, and the company says it will cut the wait for many U.P. packages from a week or more to about two days.

The company and local officials marked the opening of the 50,000-square-foot station with a ribbon cutting Thursday morning, Oct. 22, WPBN reported. Amazon said the station employs more than 50 people now and expects that number to double in the coming weeks. About 50 delivery drivers also work out of the building.

For customers in the Upper Peninsula, Amazon said, delivery times drop from seven to eight days to two-day shipping. The Escanaba station joins five other Amazon delivery stations in rural Michigan communities: Traverse City, Gaylord, Saginaw, Clare and Bad Axe.

The site. The station sits at 928 N. 30th St., at the corner of Sixth Avenue North. Escanaba’s planning commission approved the site plan on Feb. 13, 2025, as an enclosed freight terminal, before Amazon’s name was public, the Escanaba Daily Press reported at the time. That plan called for a 50,400-square-foot building, 316 parking spaces, six truck docks for line-haul trailers and 15 van launch pads. A traffic study filed with the plan described how such a station works: trailers bring packages in from larger fulfillment and sorting centers, and vans carry them on the last leg to homes and businesses.

What local leaders said. State Sen. Ed McBroom, a Vulcan Republican, said that “for a region where distance is simply a fact of life,” the station “helps bring the final link in the supply chain closer to the people of the Upper Peninsula.” State Rep. Dave Prestin, a Cedar River Republican, said it “sends an important signal that the U.P. is a great place for businesses of all sizes to call home.”

Amazon also presented a donation to Tri-County Safe Harbor, a local organization serving families in the region, during the ceremony. The company did not say publicly how much it gave or how much it spent on the station.

What this means for you. If you shop online in the U.P., expect faster delivery on many Amazon orders as the station ramps up. If you are job hunting in Delta County, the planned hiring push means openings in the coming weeks; Amazon posts its jobs on its hiring site. For Main Street shops, faster Amazon shipping raises the bar on convenience, which makes in-store pickup and personal service a bigger selling point.

Sources:
WPBN/UpNorthLive, “Ribbon cutting celebrates first Amazon facility in Upper Peninsula,” Oct. 22, 2026 (size, jobs, drivers, delivery times, other Michigan stations, quotes, donation), https://upnorthlive.com/news/local/ribbon-cutting-celebrates-first-amazon-facility-in-upper-peninsula
Escanaba Daily Press, “Amazon to build shipping facility in Escanaba,” March 2025 (address, site plan, Feb. 13 approval, traffic study), https://www.dailypress.net/news/local-news/2025/03/amazon-to-build-shipping-facility-in-escanaba/
Photo: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rivian_EDV-700_in_downtown_Omaha_2.jpg

Upper Peninsula

Tags: Upper Peninsula · Escanaba · Amazon · Jobs · Small Business · Shipping