Elk Grove Walmart Unveils New Shopping Experience

 Newly Expanded Walmart provides 85 jobs, plus savings on wide selection of merchandise

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill., Sept. 1, 2011 – A newly expanded Walmart opens this month in Elk Grove Village, bringing 85 new jobs, savings on everyday essentials with an expanded grocery department as well as an increase in tax revenue to support the area’s economy. Nonprofit organizations will also benefit from the retailer’s ongoing charitable contributions and support for community projects. The Walmart, located at 801 Meacham Road, will be open to customers at 7:30 a.m., Wednesday, Sept. 14.

“We are extremely excited to see the expansion and remodeling work completed at Walmart,” said Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson. “This new addition will provide our residents and surrounding customers expanded shopping opportunities. Walmart has always been a great steward in our community, and we couldn’t be more proud of their growth and success.”

In recent months, Walmart has taken major steps to refresh its stores, merchandising and customer experience. The improvements have all come together in the company’s newest stores, such as the Elk Grove Village Walmart, with fast service, a friendly shopping experience and clean stores.

The new Walmart features enhanced services and a layout designed to make the shopping experience more convenient for customers. Walmart aligned the departments that customers shop most frequently. The pharmacy is now adjacent to food making it easier for customers to pick up their prescriptions while shopping for their groceries. The store now offers customers a complete grocery department, including a bakery, deli, dairy, frozen food, a meat department and fresh produce. Walmart also combined the photo lab and Site-to-Store pick-up location at the front of the store for greater customer convenience.

“The layout of the store is easy to navigate, which will save our customers time as they shop for everyday necessities,” said store manager Melissa Rosenthal. “By grouping the products that our customers most often purchase, including health and beauty and pet supplies, we are making one-stop shopping even easier.”

According to Rosenthal, 85 new jobs were created as a result of the expansion. Eleven of the store’s associates have worked for the store since it first opened in 1993, seven associates have worked for Walmart for 20 years, 34 associates have worked for Walmart for more than 15 years and 25 associates at the Elk Grove Village Walmart have worked for the store for ten years. Rosenthal is a California native who began her Walmart career in 1999 as an hourly associate in the housewares department at a store in Waterloo, Iowa. She has been the manager of the Elk Grove Village store for two years.

As part of Walmart’s commitment to the communities in which it operates, $9,500 in grants from the Walmart Foundation will be presented during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. These grants will be presented to local service organizations, including the Child’s Voice, Clearbrook, Elk Grove Village Police Department, Elk Grove Village Fire Department, Illinois Supporting Veterans, Innocent Children and Woodfield Charitable Organization.

The new Elk Grove Walmart, like all new Walmart stores, includes energy-efficient technology and environmentally friendly features to reduce energy and water consumption and minimize waste. The store’s skylights harvest daylight and reduce the amount of energy required to light the store by up to 75 percent daily. LED lighting in the store operates 70 percent more efficiently than traditional fluorescent lighting.

The tile floor throughout the store reduces the need for chemical cleaners. Low-flow toilets and no-touch faucets reduce the water used in the bathrooms. The new store also operates a recycling program and will promote sustainable product purchases.

Community and business leaders, including Mayor Craig Johnson and members of the Elk Grove Village Chamber of Commerce, will join Walmart associates at 7:30 a.m., Wednesday, Sept. 14, for a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony. Twelve-year-old Elk Grove resident and national Teen Idol winner Nikki Taylor will perform the national anthem during the ceremony.

About Walmart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) serves customers and members more than 200 million times per week at over 9,600 retail units under 69 different banners in 28 countries. With fiscal year 2011 sales of $419 billion, Walmart employs 2.1 million associates worldwide. Walmart continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting http://walmartstores.com and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/walmart. Online merchandise sales are available at http://www.walmart.com and http://www.samsclub.com.

• Location: 801 Meacham Road, Elk Grove Village, Ill.
• 150,000-square-foot Walmart
• Store opens at 7:30 a.m., Wednesday, Sept. 14, following a ribbon-cutting ceremony
• Store manager: Melissa Rosenthal
• Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week

• Full line of groceries, including a bakery, a deli serving fresh food and meal solutions for busy people on-the-go, meat and dairy products, fresh produce, and beer and wine
• More than 30 merchandise departments such as apparel and accessories, a lawn and garden center, health and beauty aids, and an expanded electronics department
• Convenience services include a pharmacy, vision center, digital photo processing center and a Walmart Connect Center
• Leased areas and services include a Dunkin Donuts

$9,500 grants from the Walmart Foundation will be presented to the following area organizations:

• Child’s Voice
• Clearbrook
• Elk Grove Village Fire Department
• Elk Grove Village Police Department
• Illinois Supporting Veterans
• Innocent Children
• Woodfield Charitable Organization

• Store plans to employ approximately 300 associates, including approximately 85 positions created by the expansion.
• The average wage at Walmart for full-time hourly associates in IIllinois is approximately $12.65 per hour*
• Walmart’s benefit program is available to eligible full- and part-time associates and provides a variety of affordable health and well-being benefits including medical insurance with no lifetime maximum. Walmart also offers matching 401(k) contributions of up to 6 percent of pay, discounts on general merchandise for store associates, a Sam’s Club membership for club associates, an Associate Stock Purchase Program and company-paid life insurance. Additionally, eligible associates receive an annual incentive based on the company performance.

* Average wage taken June 2011. See www.walmartstores.com for details.

###