Almacén vs. depósito
The words 'almacén' and 'depósito' in Spanish both refer to a location for storing goods or materials. They are used in different contexts and have slightly different connotations.
Almacén
An 'almacén' typically indicates a large, official building or room where goods are stored, often for retail distribution. This term is commonly associated with businesses that store, organize and distribute large quantities of goods, similar to a warehouse or storehouse.
La mercadería llegó al almacén esta mañana.
(The merchandise arrived at the warehouse this morning.)
La tienda tiene un enorme almacén para mantener su inventario.
(The store has a huge warehouse to maintain its inventory.)
El almacén está ubicado cerca del puerto para facilitar el transporte.
(The warehouse is located near the port to facilitate transportation.)
Depósito
'Depósito' refers to a more generic place for storing items. This could be an official storage building like a warehouse, but it also includes less formal or temporary locations such as a storage room, a deposit box, or even a spot where you keep personal items at home. It may refer to physical deposits (like mineral deposits) or financial ones (like bank deposits).
Tengo un vecino que usa su garaje como depósito de chatarra.
(I have a neighbor who uses his garage as a scrap deposit.)
Voy a hacer un depósito en el banco.
(I am going to make a deposit at the bank.)
Voy a guardar estos viejos libros en mi depósito en el sótano.
(I’m going to store these old books in my storage room in the basement.)
Summary
'Almacén' and 'depósito' both refer to places for storage in Spanish, but 'almacén' is often used for larger, commercial warehouses while 'depósito' might refer to any type of storage place including less formal ones. The latter can also be used in relation to bank and mineral deposits.