BIDDEFORD — It’s been almost a month since FedEx Ground opened its new 260,000-square-foot distribution center in the former Hostess plant at 1 Bakers Way.

The facility has replaced the previous FedEx Ground distribution center in Saco, which closed when the Biddeford facility opened at the end of August, according to representatives for the company.

“We opened this larger facility to replace the other one,” David Westrick, spokesman for FedEx Ground, said in an interview Monday.

Westrick also said in an email that the larger space will enable the company to continue to meet and exceed customer demands in the region, which have been on the rise.

“The site was chosen because of its ease of access to major highways, proximity to customers’ distribution centers and a strong local community workforce for recruiting employees,” Westrick said. “The new facility is part of a nationwide network expansion to boost daily package volume capacity and further enhance the speed and service capabilities of the FedEx Ground network.”

Westrick was not able to say how many shipments go through the new plant. The company doesn’t track individual locations, but he noted that more than 7.5 million shipments are made through FedEx locations nationally each year.

The Memphis-based shipping company is the latest tenant of the building. The 40-acre property is the former location of Hostess Brands, which filed for bankruptcy and closed in 2012, putting about 380 people out of work.

The building changed hands twice prior to FedEx’s arrival. It was first sold in 2013 to Flowers Foods, a Georgia-based maker of baked goods, for $15.35 million, and again in 2014 to Biddeford Holdings LLC for $6.9 million.

FedEx is leasing the building from Stag Industrial, a Boston-based real estate investment firm that purchased the building earlier this year for $12.4 million.

Mike Williams, senior manager of the facility, told the Journal Tribune in May that the facility would be converted into 114,000 square feet of dock space and 9,200 square feet of office space, with extra space left open for potential subleasing.

Initial plans for the new facility included about 70 workers – 30 drivers, 25 to 30 dock workers, and 10 office workers – mostly transplanted from the Saco plant, according to Williams.

Westrick said the facility opened with more than 35 FedEx Ground employees in late August, and currently contracts with three local service providers who, on their own, employ an additional 36 people. He said FedEx contracts with these providers for all pickup, delivery and transportation services.

In May, it was not immediately clear how many new positions would be generated by the facility’s move – jobs that could spur boosted employment figures and economic development potential for the city.

Westrick could not say Monday if any new jobs were created at the new space, noting that most of the current workers formerly worked at the Saco location.

“Typically in these situations, there is not immediate job creation, because we open the larger facility and move people into it from the existing plant,” Westrick said.

“We will add to the company’s overall area workforce as necessary to support increased demand for service,” he added in his email.

— Staff Writer Alan Bennett can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or abennett@journaltribune.com.