Renovated store now offers a glimpse into the next generation of shopping
LIMA, Ohio, July 26, 2010 – The Lima Walmart, located at 2400 Harding Highway, will celebrate a grand re-opening this week, giving local shoppers a glimpse of the company’s next generation of store design and customer experience. The results of a three-month remodeling project will be unveiled at the Lima Walmart at 8 a.m., Friday, July 30. Among the many improvements are a new layout, wider aisles, low-profile shelving, bright interior paint scheme, enhanced lighting and easy-to-read signage to make the shopping experience more convenient for customers.
According to Lima Mayor David Berger, the Walmart remodel is an example of community partnership.
“Walmart has been a long-standing and generous corporate citizen in our metropolitan community,” said Mayor Berger. “The recent renovations at the east side Walmart have significantly improved the store and we are looking forward to the groundbreaking on the new store on the west side of town later this year. These investments are important to continuing to grow the regional economy.” he added.
New Layout Improves Customer Experience
The remodeled Lima store features a more open shopping environment with wider aisles that contain no product displays. Walmart also aligned the departments that customers shop most frequently, making it quicker to purchase everyday items, including moving the pet department next to the grocery department.
A bright interior paint scheme and enhanced lighting create a more inviting shopping experience and help define the store’s merchandise areas. Low-profile shelving creates an improved sightline and directional signage helps customers find the products they need.
“We listened to our customers and have redesigned the store to make shopping at Walmart even easier,” said store manager Robert Kadlubowski.
Among the changes, Walmart completely renovated both the pharmacy and the vision center with an open design, creating a much friendlier, accessible experience. The store added eight self-checkout registers with touch screens for faster checkout and moved the MoneyCenter to its own dedicated space at the front of the store. Customers will also appreciate the hardware department’s new electronic paint matching system as well as new seasonal displays that feature everything customers need in one-stop shopping for summer picnics and back-to-school.
Expanded Departments Add Value and Savings
The remodel brings Walmart customers an expanded electronics department featuring a wide selection of the latest consumer electronics and home entertainment. The new design includes a more hands-on experience for customers with expansive video gaming selection and portable electronics. The interactive experience enables shoppers to test new technology.
The store added shelf space in the grocery department and now offers beer and wine.
A new department called Celebration Station has been added and will feature party supplies, greeting cards, balloons and helium tanks, cake supplies and gift wrap.
Grand Re-opening Activities Include Support for Local Organizations
The grand re-opening celebration is scheduled for Friday, July 30, and will begin with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 8 a.m. Local dignitaries including the Mayor of Lima David Berger, and members of the Chamber of Commerce will assist Kadlubowski and store associates in cutting the ribbon to the newly remodeled store. During the ceremony, store associates will present grants from the Walmart Foundation to local organizations, including:
- Abilities Baseball League
- Lima Rescue Mission
- West Ohio Food Bank
The Walmart Foundation has committed $2 billion to U.S. hunger relief efforts through 2015. The Fighting Hunger Together campaign will also engage Walmart customers and associates in the fight against hunger. More information can be found at walmart.com/fightinghunger.
Commitment to the Environment
The store is also committed to being a good environmental steward. Part of the cement used in the store’s concrete flooring is made with recycled materials, and the baseboards are manufactured from 100 percent recycled plastic. The photo department also uses green technology, operating completely without liquid chemicals for photo processing. The store also has improved its recycling efforts with a new recycling program which features a sandwich bale process that takes all loose plastic, hangers, aluminum cans and office paper, sandwiches them between cardboard, bundles them into bales and sends them to recycling centers. In addition, the store will be composting all organic products.
About Walmart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT), or “Walmart,” serves customers and members more than 200 million times per week at more than 8,400 retail units under 55 different banners in 15 countries. With fiscal year 2010 sales of $405 billion, Walmart employs more than 2 million associates worldwide. A leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity, Walmart ranked first among retailers in Fortune Magazine’s 2009 Most Admired Companies survey. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting www.walmartstores.com and on Twitter at http://Twitter.com/walmart. Online merchandise sales are available at www.walmart.com and www.samsclub.com.
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