On November 3, Walmart will celebrate what the company is calling the Second Best Day for 117 stores across the United States that are part of the largest single re-grand opening event in its history.
The re-grand opening projects are the result of more than half a billion dollars in capital investments in local communities across 30 states, Walmart maintained, one that addressed the company’s supercenters and Neighborhood Markets.
The reopenings are part of the Walmart Signature Experience, the company noted, an operational and merchandising approach that emphasizes inspiring customers and providing them with seamless, high-quality shopping. The upgraded locations, Walmart adds, feature improved layouts, expanded product selections and innovative technology that can make shopping more enjoyable and help employees better support customers while making shopping more enjoyable.
Among the store updates is a reconfigured Home department with sophisticated feature displays focused on multi-product end caps with key presentations including home furnishings and housewares.
Other updated features, Walmart pointed out, range across the store:
- Refreshed Interior and Exterior. New paint, updated flooring throughout the store and modernized restrooms and new fixtures and LED lighting for brighter line of sight throughout the store.
- Front-End Transformation. Additional check-out options including staffed lanes and self-checkout sections.
- More Space to Discover. Expanded feature space for customers to explore and discover what their local store has to offer.
- Digital Touchpoints. Located throughout the store to help communicate the range of products and services offered online through QR codes and digital screens.
- New Signage. Improved visuals allowing for easier navigation in-store and when using the Walmart App.
- Activated Corners. Feature displays set at the corners of designated departments to draw customers.
- Elevated Departments. Transformed stores feature displays showcasing products out of their boxes so customers can visualize fitting them into their daily lives.
- New Dollar Shop. Positioned at store entrances with seasonally relevant products.
- Larger Online Grocery Pickup and Delivery Areas. Spaces to accommodate growing demand and serve more customers who are shopping online.
- Grab & Go. New sections added to grocery areas for quick meal and drink options.
- Expanded Pharmacies. A shift in store position for many pharmacies to the front of the store and expansion allowing for new private screening rooms that accommodate pharmacist consultations and services.
- Updated Customer Service Areas. Expanded and made more comfortable.
- Mother’s Room. Clean, relaxing and private areas for nursing mothers.
- Vision Center. Designed around the customer and incorporating an assortment of quality eyeglasses and sunglasses with prescription lenses.
“We’re investing more than $9 billion over a two-year period to upgrade and modernize more than 1,400 of our stores across the U.S.,” said John Furner, Walmart U.S. CEO, in announcing the reopenings. “With nearly 90 percent of the U.S. population living within 10 miles of a Walmart, we understand how important our local stores are to customers and communities, and these construction investments allow us to create more local jobs and make it easier for our associates to get customers what they want, when they want it.”
In a corporate blog post, Hunter Hart, senior vp, Walmart Realty, emphasized that although massive in its own right, the reopenings on November 3 are part of a continuity, as Walmart intends to continue its remodeling program in 2024. Each store, Hunt asserted, is designed to deliver a more modern shopping experience and provide greater associate and customer satisfaction from the moment they step into the upgraded space. Convenience and atmosphere are important elements in new store designs that Walmart sees as means to better serve a broader range of consumer shopping occasions and preferences.
