Puma has transferred management of three automated U.S. distribution centres spanning roughly 2.3 million square feet to Maersk, while Columbia Sportswear signed a 10-year European logistics contract with GXO — two of the longest and largest warehousing commitments the apparel sector has made to third-party providers this year.

Puma announced the expanded Maersk relationship in late September. The sites in California, Arizona and Indiana support the footwear brand's retail, wholesale and e-commerce operations across the United States.

Columbia's agreement puts GXO in charge of the outdoor brand's primary continental European distribution hub in Cambrai, northern France. GXO takes responsibility for inbound logistics, storage, fulfilment and outbound distribution at the site, serving e-commerce, retail replenishment and wholesale customers across multiple European markets.

Why are brands outsourcing more distribution?

Both deals reflect a sector-wide response to higher logistics costs, trade uncertainty and multi-channel inventory demands — without growing internal logistics headcount.

The data backs the trend:

• 86% of shippers say they are increasing their use of outsourced logistics services, according to the 2027 Third-Party Logistics Study from NTT Data, Penske Logistics and the University of Tennessee's Global Supply Chain Institute.
• One in three supply chain leaders expect logistics outsourcing budgets to rise by at least 10% over the next two years, per Gartner research released in July.
• 85% of shippers and 94% of 3PLs report their longest-standing partnership has exceeded five years, the 3PL Study found.

What changes inside Puma's warehouses?

Puma is deploying AutoStore automated storage and retrieval technology across the Maersk-run trio. The system stores inventory in a compact grid, with robots retrieving goods and delivering them to workstations for picking and packing, cutting travel time and manual handling.

"This next phase of our partnership strengthens our ability to move products more efficiently across channels, improve responsiveness to changing demand and create greater value from the investments we've made in our U.S. distribution infrastructure," said Helmut Leibbrandt, senior vice president of supply chain management and logistics Americas at Puma.

Maersk will open spare capacity in the network to other customers from 2027. The Torrance, California site becomes the carrier's first North American AutoStore deployment supporting multi-client operations, with throughput capacity of roughly 20 million units per year — a move the company says will improve asset utilisation on Puma's existing infrastructure.

How deep do these 3PL relationships run?

Columbia's decade-long GXO contract stands out even in a market shifting toward longer terms. The companies said they prepared the Cambrai transition jointly, prioritising operational continuity, employee integration and uninterrupted customer service. GXO already operates more than 60 warehouses across France.

Both providers are building out wider fashion portfolios:

• Maersk holds a separate five-year agreement with Columbia covering U.K. and Ireland pick-and-pack — roughly 1.6 million inbound and outbound units annually across about 25,000 SKUs.
• GXO deployed an Exotec Skypod robotics system in September at its Venlo, Netherlands facility serving Guess: 127 robots, 60,000 rack locations and processing capacity up to 70,000 pieces per day, supporting distribution across Asia and EMEA.

For sourcing and supply chain executives, the calculus these deals force is straightforward: with outsourcing budgets rising and automation capital moving onto 3PL balance sheets, brands must decide which distribution capabilities to retain in-house and which to lock in under multi-year contracts — before peak capacity in key regions gets committed to competitors.