Walmart to remodel 500 stores
Walmart has revealed plans to remodel 500 stores and open 20 new locations in more than two dozen states as part of an $11 billion investment, Business Insider reported.
Proposed changes include wider aisles, shorter shelving; new signage and flooring; a revamped electronics department featuring interactive displays; new private consultation rooms adjacent to pharmacies; more self-checkouts; and renovated cosmetics, home, hardware, auto, baby and produce departments.
The announcement comes shortly after the company announced the launch of new “smart assistants,” which will not make the stores not only run more efficiently but also limit the time an associate spends on more mundane and repetitive tasks like cleaning floors or checking inventory on a shelf, according to the company.
The majority of overhauls will occur in Florida and Texas, where Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart will lay out a combined $477 million on 14 new and 82 remodeled stores.
The mega-retailer’s plans also include spending $145 million on 34 stores in California, $94 million on 27 stores in Ohio, $75 million on 14 stores in Virginia, $68 million on 12 stores in New Jersey, and $35 million on 10 stores in Minnesota.
The company will also bring online grocery pickup to 1,000 more stores this year, install pickup towers for online orders to another 500 locations, and expand its Mobile Express Scan & Go service enabling customers to scan and pay for items with a smartphone.
“The plan is to continue improving stores and accelerating innovation during the coming year to make shopping faster and easier for our customers,” a Walmart spokesman told Business Insider. “We’ll also continue to look for ways to improve our processes to empower our associates to serve customers even better — we'll be people-powered and tech-enabled, always with our customer’s needs in mind.”