RGL Logistics unveils new warehouse in Appleton

Judith Munson

Contributor

October 5, 2026

APPLETON – RGL Logistics is making moves again.

The Green Bay-based company recently completed construction on a new warehouse at its Appleton campus, marking its 29th building to join its three-campus network. 

Michelle Wellens, director of transportation solutions and marketing, said the new building adds 427,500 square feet to the company’s total footprint of more than 4 million square feet, which covers all three RGL sites in Neenah, Green Bay and Appleton.

Wellens said the warehouse was built to create additional capacity and flexibility on RGL’s Appleton campus, while continuing to respond to customers’ needs.

“As our business and customer partnerships have grown, we saw a need for additional warehousing and supply chain capacity that would position us not only for what is needed today, but for what our customers may need in the future,” she said.

Wellens said the new construction includes a centralized, gated driver check-in area that enhances safety, security and efficiency for RGL’s team members.  

Regional demand drives growth

RGL Logistics (per rgllogistics.com) serves manufacturers across Northeast Wisconsin and across several industries, from paper and pulp mills to plastics and packaging, retail goods and food and beverage. 

This latest addition, Wellens said, helps the company meet growing supply chain demands in the region where commercial warehousing space has been fairly limited.

“We’re growing not just for the sake of growth, but it’s really based on the needs of manufacturers in Northeast Wisconsin,” she said.

Wellens said RGL’s warehousing services go beyond storage to managing inventory for customers.

“We can ship their inventory out for them,” she said. “In some cases, customers may be looking for a co-pack partner, which means that we help repackage their goods in a way they need for store display.”

She said the company also offers fulfillment services, as well as commercial leasing services for customers who want to manage the inventory themselves but need a facility to do so. 

This latest expansion comes on the heels of a 600,000-square-foot project launched at RGL’s Neenah campus last year, and a 450,000-square-foot warehouse completed in Appleton in 2023, Wellens said.

Upon completion of the latter project, Ryan Scray – vice president of business development – noted the changes across “the warehouse world.” 

“People are choosing the internet over big-box shopping,” he said. “Supply shortages are forcing companies to stock up… Whether it’s freight brokerage, warehousing, third-party logistics, co-packing or cargo ships coming into our port, RGL does it all.”

In addition to the company’s functional capabilities, Wellens said RGL’s success is driven by strong relationships.

“We find the most success when we align ourselves with partners who share our values and our focus on safety, accountability and continuous improvement,” she said. “Our focus with our customers has always been the opposite of transactional. It makes for a more trusting relationship that grows and evolves over time to a point where we can really help one another.” 

The company’s growth has not gone unnoticed among industry watchers as RGL won the Better Business Bureau of Wisconsin’s Torch Award for Ethics in April, and Energage – a national HR consulting firm – named RGL as a “Top Workplace” in Northeast Wisconsin in 2024 and 2026.

“That last one was particularly meaningful,” Wellens said, “because it was based on feedback from our teammates directly.”

Keeping people at the center of business

RGL’s use of the term “teammate” is deliberate, Wellens said, as it reflects the company’s philosophy of prioritizing the welfare of the 150 people who work there.  

“We actually have a vision that we live by that envisions our people going home safe, healthy and fulfilled every day – and we really try to live by that,” she said. “You know, you come to work every day, you spend eight hours a day at a job. We want this to be a place where, when people go home, they feel happy and healthy, so that carries on to every part of their life.”

Like other employee-centric work cultures, Wellens said RGL prioritizes career development.

“We give people internal opportunities to grow and develop,” she said. “Many of our teammates have started in one position and worked their way to different parts of our organization.”

The new warehouse, Wellens said, will offer more growth opportunities for RGL’s people and the surrounding area with positions available in administration, customer service and the warehouse area itself.

Regarding the completion of this project, she said she credits the help of area vendors such as Green Bay’s Alliance Construction & Design and Absolute Concrete of Wrightstown with the completion of this project, as well as the support of the City of Appleton.

Wellens said RGL works to give back to the communities that offer the company support, partaking in projects like regular cleanups at Peabody Park in Appleton.

“Several of my teammates were actually just out volunteering in our community this morning,” she said. “We support them by offering paid time to volunteer, because we believe it’s really important that we invest in and care for the communities where we live and serve.”

From a two-horse show to global reach

Per RGL’s website, the company’s extensive history began when Leicht’s Transfer & Storage was founded in Green Bay 123 years ago, when T.M. Leicht “purchased one horse, its blind teammate and a flat wagon.” 

The company rebranded in 2013 to RGL Logistics which now operates internationally, completing more than 360 shipments each day. 

Wellens said the secret to the company’s longevity is rooted in its ability to adapt. 

“I read recently that less than 1% of all the companies in the United States have been around for more than 100 years,” she said. “We don’t take our longevity for granted. We have built a culture of commitment, meaning our people are invested in doing the right thing because they care – not because they’re being told to.”

As The Business News reported in its July 1, 2024 issue, RGL enhances its culture by calling itself the “What If” company.

“We’re always challenging the status quo and challenging ourselves to say, ‘What if there could be a better way?’” Wellens said.

This culture, she said, “makes people feel safe to challenge the way we do business.”

“For example, somebody on the front lines of the warehouse floor is comfortable enough to raise their hand and say, ‘Hey, this could be done better,’” she said.

The results of this encouragement, Wellens said, are born out in RGL’s efficient performance, which supports expansion such as the new Appleton warehouse.

“I haven’t seen this dynamic anywhere else,” she said, “where the people really lead that change that keeps us going.”

Visit the aforementioned website for more information.