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'This Is What We Call Santa's Workshop': Teamwork In Full Effect At Amazon Warehouse In Thornton During Holiday Rush

(CBS4) - With Christmas around the corner, the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Thornton, Den3, is experiencing one of its busiest times of the year. By the end of the week, the team will have sent out millions of orders around the country, including thousands in Colorado.

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"This is what we call Santa's workshop nowadays," said Joe Dudek, the Den3 General Manager. "We're planning all year round in order to deliver during the holiday season. It takes a lot of teamwork from our associates and our leaders in the building, a lot of planning from our corporate teams."

Dudek said the Thornton location fulfills about 600,000-700,000 orders per day. While Amazon has several big vendors selling on its site, it also supports over 30,000 local businesses around the country, including dozens in Colorado.

"Those little mom and pop shops that might not have the capabilities to ship items across the country, we can do that for them," Dudek said.

One of the local businesses using Amazon to sell its products is Iconi, an activewear brand that was founded in Colorado just two years ago. Angel Johnson, the CEO and owner, said about 45% of their sales come from the online retail giant.

"The holiday season and the fourth quarter in general is our busiest time of the year," Johnson said. "Amazon allows us to reach a wider customer base. And something else that Amazon helps small businesses do in general, is someone might not feel comfortable going to a new website they have never been to before, but Amazon gives them a trusted website and something that they are used to."

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Amazon said last minute shoppers still have until Dec. 23 and 24 to get their holiday orders in. Dudek said they have millions of products that are still eligible for delivery up to Christmas day.

"This is a really special place," said Dudek. "We have a lot of dedicated people that work here, that want to deliver for the holidays for everybody else."

On Thursday, Amazon announced it is expanding some same-day delivery services in Denver, meaning customers can now get some items delivered within a span of just five hours.

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