Walmart Brings New Shopping Experience to Midpark-area

 Store provides jobs, grocery, deli, bakery and wide selection of merchandise

DALLAS, Jan. 18, 2012 – Walmart brings savings and convenience to residents of the Midpark area of Dallas this month with the opening of a new store at 13739 N. Central Expressway at the junction of Highway 75 and Midpark Road. The store brings 300 new jobs, savings on a full line of groceries and 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. Local dignitaries will join store manager Joe Rivera and store associates to celebrate during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 7:30 a.m., Wednesday, Jan. 25.

The 136,000-square-foot store features a full line of groceries, as well as a bakery, a deli, a frozen food section, and meat, dairy and fresh produce sections. Time-saving services and an expansive merchandise selection add to its one-stop shopping convenience. Wide aisles, bright interior paint scheme, enhanced lighting and easy-to-read signage make the shopping experience more convenient for customers.

The Midpark store plans to employ approximately 300 associates. Several associates have transferred to the new store from existing Walmart locations and have worked for the company for more than 10 years.

“Walmart provides job opportunities and career choices for everyone from seniors looking for supplemental income to young people wanting to gain work experience,” Rivera said.

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 Dallas 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, for example, is adjacent to food making it easier for customers to pick up their prescriptions while shopping for their groceries.

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

Walmart also combined the Site-to-Store pick-up location and photo lab in one area near electronics. Customers now have easy access to these services, as well as associates on hand to help meet their needs.

The new Dallas 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.

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.

The grand-opening celebration at the Midpark store is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 25. Community and businesses leaders will join store associates for the ribbon-cutting ceremony at 7:30 a.m. The chaplain from the Texas State Guard will offer the invocation, and guard members will raise the flag to begin the ceremony. Lisa Hiroms will sing the national anthem.

During the ceremony, store associates will present $25,000 in grants from the Walmart Foundation to local organizations, including Dobie Elementary School, Bukhair Elementary School, SoupMobile, Operation Homefront of Texas, GB2K arts and theater mentoring program, Derek Sheely Foundation, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

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: 13739 N. Central Expressway, Dallas, Texas
• 136,000-square-foot Walmart
• Store will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 7:30 a.m., Wednesday, Jan. 25
• Store manager: Joe Rivera
• 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

$25,000 in grants from the Walmart Foundation will be presented to the following local organizations:

• Bukhair Elementary School
• Derek Sheely Foundation
• Dobie Elementary School
• GB2K arts and theater mentoring program
• Mothers Against Drunk Driving
• Operation Homefront ofTexas
• SoupMobile

• Store plans to employ approximately 300 associates
• The average wage at Walmart for full-time hourly associates in Texas is approximately $12.19 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, an Associate Stock Purchase Program and company-paid life insurance. Additionally, eligible associates receive a quarterly incentive based on store performance.

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

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