Walmart celebrated its official grand reopening on Friday with music, food vendors, free samples and local police representatives on site.
Alan Sims, store manager for five years, said Walmart redesigns its stores every seven to nine years.
“Planning for the project began more than a year in advance with designs and permits. It was a 16-week project costing $8 million. This Walmart was built at this current location in 2009 and first remodeled in 2016. And now, eight years later, here we are again,” Sims continued.
The project began in early May and was not easy as the store remained open, but most of the work was done at night.
“There are a lot of big steps and initiatives. It took a lot of moving parts to bring it all together. There have been some frustrations with customers over the last 16 weeks, but I think they will be happy with the end result,” Sims added.
If you don’t like going to stores and prefer to shop online, there is also an improvement.
“We have also expanded our online grocery section to provide more capacity to customers,” said Sims.
Wendy Gilliard brought her two young granddaughters to the event and is a Walmart shopper.
“I like the way the store is decorated. It’s more modern. It was confusing that I didn’t know where things were at first during the remodel, but the employees were very helpful and showed me where things were. I knew it would be better in the end. I’m a patient person because I’m a teacher,” Gilliard laughed.
