Owner of Fruit of the Loom building about to see his dream come true

In February of 2022, Don Benoit, the new owner of the old Fruit of the Loom building, was quoted in the Abbeville Meridional as saying, “Hopefully, we can fill this facility and get some more jobs back. I want to be a part of something that can make the whole community better.”
He purchased the building for $3.2 million, hoping to bring it new life.
Fast-forward 16 months later, and Benoit’s wish is in the process of coming true.
“I am glad to see the job creation is happening,” said Benoit. “I hope to build off this and bring more things into Abbeville. This is a starting point.”
On Tuesday, Abbeville Mayor Roslyn White announced Amazon would be located at the old Fruit of the Loom building in Abbeville.
Amazon announced it would move into the building sometime in 2024.
The building is 134,000 square feet.
The facility is expected to create full- and part-time jobs, but the total number may not be known until it nears its opening date.
Amazon will use the building as a last-mile center.
According to Amazon, a last-mile delivery is the final leg of the entire delivery process, which starts from the final fulfillment center to the customer’s doorstep.
Reports on a similar last mile center that opened in Minnesota last mile facility like this will typically create up to 150 new jobs, many of which organize and prepare packages for customer delivery. Hiring will begin
The building, located at 3221 Veterans Memorial Drive, is the former home of the Abbeville Mills, part of the Fruit of the Loom operations that employed 600 just before it ceased operations in January 1998, reports indicate. It first opened in 1989.
Fruit of the Loom had operations in Abbeville, St. Martinville and Port Barre that employed a combined 2,370.
Over the last 30 years, the building has been used as a school and has housed different businesses.
Two weeks ago, construction got underway to transform the building into a “last mile” facility.
Different contractors are gutting the building this week and redoing some parking lots.
The building is also currently home to offices for the USDA and the National Resources Conservation. They will remain in the building, Benoit said.