To quickly supply vacant cargo receiver by forming a rack device side of a conveyor into an article receiving and delivery station and the opposite side thereof into a picking station, and supplying vacant cargo receivers inside a vacant cargo receiver housing provided in the rack device to the conveyor by a stacker crane.

In this automated storage and retrieval system provided with a pair of rack devices 1 erected in both sides of a stacker crane passage 10 and provided with an article receiving and delivery station 20 at the rack device 1 side of each conveyor 8, a stacker crane 13 to be guided for movement along a guide rail 11 is formed of an elevator 16 freely to be elevated along a mast 15 on a traveling carrier 14 and a slide fork 17 freely to be horizontally slid in the fore and aft direction. A left end of the conveyor 8 is formed into a picking station 21, and a vacant cargo receiver housing 24 is provided in the rack device 1 near the conveyor 8, and vacant cargo receivers inside of the housing 24 are supplied to the conveyor 8 by the stacker crane 13.