By Madelaine B. Miraflor Zalora Group is expanding its warehouse capacity in the Philippines this year through a partnership with AC Infrastructure Holdings Corporation (AC Infra), which is now building a new multi-billion logistics center in Cavite for the fashion e-commerce giant. Zalora Philippines CEO and co-founder Paolo Campos III said the new center — which will feature a semi-automated multi-level facility — will have a 7.2 million item storage capacity at its final phase, which is seven times bigger than the 1.2 million items capacity of the existing Zalora warehouse in Carmona, Cavite which became operational in 2015. Located at the Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway, the new facility will be built by AC Infra for Zalora Philippines under a long-term and exclusive lease agreement. With the new facility, Zalora’s products, across all the brands it sells on its website and mobile, will be stored in around 40,000 square meters of racking space, while 5,000 square meters of the facility will be allotted to office space. Targeted for completion in December, the facility will be able to host 1,200 employees. When asked whether Zalora Philippines will still keep its Carmona Philippines, Campos said the company has not made a final decision about it. It was in 2017 when the Ayala group acquired 49 percent stake in Zalora Philippines. To be specific, Ayala Corp. bought 43.3 percent of BF Jade E-Servic Philippines, the company that owns and operates Zalora Philippines. Separately, Ayala Land, Inc., BPI Capital Corp., and Globe Telecom’s Kickstart Ventures, Inc. also acquired minority ownership stakes in BF Jade. Zalora Philippines is one of 16 countries where Zalora Group operates.