By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw
FORT WAYNE — Sweetwater, the nation’s largest online music and pro audio retailer, continues to expand its offerings at its headquarters on US 30 in Fort Wayne.
On Wednesday, the company and local dignataries celebrated a milestone in its construction of a $36.7 million distribution center expansion plan made necessary its efforts to diversify.
“Without a doubt, a huge part of our growth over these last number of years has been moving into some other categories such as band and orchestra instruments, home audio equipment, and headphones — a lot of things based on the creator economy,” said Jeff Ostermann, the chief people and culture officer at Sweetwater.
The compay also now offers a line of drones for hobbyists and those with more serious intentions.
“The expansion for us is helping people both make music, create music, but also enjoy it, and really tapping into the bigger creative needs of our customers,” Ostermann said.
“What we found over time is many of our customers may have been doing things, for example, in the podcasting space that had needs for things like microphones and production equipment, but also had needs for video equipment,” he said.
On Wednesday, construction crews for Sweetwater added the final steel beam across the new structure. Expansion began in April and is expected to conclude in August 2027.
Before the final beam was raised into place, Sweetwater employees, Fort Wayne mayor Sharon Tucker, and other local officials signed it, a construction tradition that honors the people behind the project.
Among the last to sign were six of the distribution center’s longest-tenured hourly employees, who represent more than 115 years of service to Sweetwater: Greg Bowers, Geraldo Lopez, Danny Vachon, Bill Markey, Kyle Wheeler, and Mary MacDonald, according to a news release from the company.
Ostermann said the company is “incredibly grateful” for the support from the city of Fort Wayne “to grow and deepen our commitment to serving millions of customers from right here in Northeast Indiana.”
Tucker welcomed the newly annexed portion of the campus into the city.
The project follows a voluntary annexation that brought an additional section of Sweetwater’s campus inside Fort Wayne city limits, including part of the existing distribution center and the ground where the addition is being built.
Fort Wayne City Council approved the annexation and expansion of the West Highway 30 Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district earlier this year.
The TIF will help fund approximately $6.2 million in public infrastructure improvements, including a new roundabout on Flaugh Road and related road and stormwater work.
“When they reached out to the city and said, ‘Hey, we would like to expand, and we would like to voluntarily annex into the city of Fort Wayne,’ we said ‘absolutely’,” Tucker said.
“Anything that we could do to be able to help you grow, because we recognize the value that Sweetwater brings to the city of Fort Wayne. They are a part of the reason that we have been named the fastest-growing community in the Midwest.”
Sweetwater plans to hold a formal grand-opening celebration once the expansion and campus enhancements are complete and fully operational, expected in the summer of 2027.
