When shareholders approved Kmart’s $12.3 billion purchase of Sears in March, Jeannine Wyatt was huddling with small groups of employees at Kmart’s sprawling distribution center north of the Kansas Turnpike.

Their feeling: optimistic.

“Everybody’s excited about it,” said Wyatt, human resources manager for the 500-employee operation. “The people who are employed by Kmart – and I would also assume, Sears – are very excited. We just see the opportunities that are going to be available for so many people.

“There’ve been the naysayers out there who say it’s not going to last three or four years, but for me personally, and a lot of people, these are two – yes, we’ve been struggling – retailers, but we’re two business icons in this country. And I think that with the leadership at the top, we can take that synergy and really create a great company.”

The distribution center is one of 15 that Kmart operates in the United States, after closing one in Michigan earlier this year. The Lawrence center covers 1.5 million square feet on a little more than 100 acres, handling up to 100 truckloads of products daily, five days a week.

The center supplies 102 Kmart stores in eight states. The center also is home to the company’s lone “national specialty center,” which distributes nutritional supplements, cosmetics and other beauty aides to all Kmart stores.

Officials of the new Sears Holdings Corp. have not indicated what changes might come to the combined supply chain, but Lawrence officials remain hopeful that their location – established 33 years ago – will endure, and perhaps grow larger.

“I think, obviously, if you merge two companies, you will look at all aspects of the business,” said Brent McKinney, the Lawrence center’s general manager. “I’m sure there are going to be a lot of different things that are going to be looked at.”