Walmart customers in West Plains were welcomed inside the newly transformed Supercenter at 1310 Preacher Roe Blvd. Friday morning as the much-anticipated renovation project is now complete.
According to company officials, the remodeled store is one of 117 Walmart locations across 30 U.S. states that celebrated re-grand-openings Friday, which marks the largest single-day rollout of such reopenings in the company’s history. The events celebrated more than half a billion dollars in upgrades to stores, officials added.
West Plains Walmart Supercenter associates marked the occasion with a ribbon cutting ceremony, community celebration and unveiling of a community-inspired mural. The event was attended by local West Plains nonprofit organizations who were recipients of $11,000 in grants. Guests also enjoyed refreshments, food trucks, vendor giveaways and a performance by the West Plains High School Concert Choir.
During the celebration, Walmart Store Manager James Melvin highlighted the Supercenter’s transformed departments as well as the new interactive features now available to customers, including: anewly painted building inside and out, enhanced parking lot with restriped parking spaces and new cart corrals , enhanced product displays in multiple departments and newly installed vignettes, expanded online grocery pickup area with 25 added lanes and improved lighting, front-end improvements including a new dollar section and 22 additional customer self-checkouts and fully remodeled bathrooms, including modern fixtures, with the addition of a new mother’s room.
The upgrades also include an increased number of products in multiple departments, including apparel, deli and pets; improved store layout to expand product selection and streamline the customer shopping experience; new lighting and signage throughout the store making it easier for customers to navigate; new pharmacy layout with the addition of a health consultation room and privacy area to improve customer service and patient comfort; new shopping carts with a cell phone holder, drink holder and larger seat for a child to sit in comfortably; and new vestibules located at the store entrances with new flooring.
"We’re thrilled that Walmart’s newest features are now available here in our small community so we can provide everything that our customers need in one shopping experience,” said Melvin.
To reinforce Walmart’s dedication to the communities it serves, Melvin also presented grant checks in the amount of $5,000 each to West Plains Shop With a Cop and West Plains R-7 Schools Bridges Program, plus $1,000 to Ozarks Summit Ministries
Additional transformations across West Plains Walmart’s pets, home, apparel, electronics and front-end departments are a part of Walmart’s ‘Store of the Future’ design, which seeks to inspire customers and elevate their in-store experiences, said officials.
Activated corners: “Exciting displays are featured at the corners of certain departments to pull customers in and help them touch, feel and become a part of the space, allowing them to discover all that Walmart has to offer,” officials described.
Elevated departments: Transformed stores feature displays showcasing products that are out of their boxes so customers can imagine them fitting into their daily lives.
More space to discover: Walmart has purposefully created more space for customers to explore and discover the breadth and depth of what their local store has to offer.
Digital touchpoints: These new touchpoints located throughout the store help to communicate to customers the vast range of products and services Walmart offers online through the use of QR codes and digital screens. For example, in Walmart’s Pets area, a customer may scan the QR code to find additional dog bed options, learn about Walmart’s pet insurance service options or have a 20-pound bag of kibble delivered to their door.
Walmart has invested over $9 billion in the past two years to upgrade more than 1,400 stores across the country and plans to continue its remodel program into 2024, bringing updated stores to more of the communities the company serves, said officials.
