The state of retail has been anything but stable over the last few years. Many well-known companies have downsized shuttered stores across the U.S. to stay afloat—and even Walmart, a success story overall, has made some reductions. But now, the big-box retailer has announced new plans to invest instead of pulling back. In a Jan. 31 press release, Walmart revealed it would be expanding and modernizing hundreds of its stores throughout the country. Read on to find out more about the changes you can expect.
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Walmart is planning to remodel hundreds of stores.
WalmartYour local Walmart could be changing this year. The retailer plans to remodel 650 stores in 47 states and Puerto Rico during the next 12 months, according to the press release. Walmart CEO John Furner explained that remodeling existing stores will help the company create "tens of thousands of jobs" to support these projects.
"When it comes to investing in America, Walmart has a very strong history," Furner wrote in the release. "We directly employ approximately 1.6 million people in this country and support many more jobs beyond that."
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The retailer will also be opening new locations.
WalmartWalmart didn't just announce modernization plans: As part of its expansion efforts, the retailer is also planning to build or convert more than 150 stores over the next five years. The first two new stores under this initiative are Neighborhood Markets set to open later this spring in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, and Atlanta, Georgia, according to the release.
"We’re also finalizing construction plans on 12 new projects we intend to start this year, along with converting one of our smaller locations to a Walmart Supercenter," Furner wrote in the release.
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New and redesigned stores reflect the company's Store of the Future concept.
WalmartAlongside helping to reach and serve more shoppers overall, the company is hoping that these new and remodeled stores will better enable them to "meet and exceed customers expectations."
These locations will reflect Walmart's Store of the Future concept by "featuring improved layouts, expanded product selections, and innovative technology to help our associates better support our customers and make shopping more convenient and enjoyable," according to Furner.
"These new facilities will be designed with sustainability in mind, including more energy-efficient equipment and lighting, lower impact refrigerants and more," the CEO added. "We’re also working on developing a coast-to-coast network of affordable electric vehicle fast-charging stations we hope will make EV ownership a more convenient and accessible choice for Walmart shoppers and associates."
This will expand on work Walmart has already been doing.
WalmartSome shoppers have already seen Walmart's Store of the Future. The retailer announced the concept in 2023, and some locations were remodeled last year. According to a previous press release, 117 Walmart stores nationwide had re-grand openings on Nov. 3 to celebrate their transformations.
"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.," Furner said in a statement at the time.
Walmart said that customers shopping at its new and remodeled stores can expect to see changes that include updated flooring, modernized restrooms, LED lighting, better signage, more shopping carts, increased check-out options, new grab and go sections, activated corner displays, expanded pharmacies, digital touchpoints, more space, and new dollar shops located near entrances.
"Customers love this concept in the places we’ve already rolled it out, and we’re excited to transition more and more of our fleet," Furner wrote in the latest release.
