Dallas Area Welcomes Two Walmart Neighborhood Markets

Stores bring 200 new jobs and local favorites to the community

DALLAS, May 16, 2012 – Walmart’s newest Walmart Neighborhood Markets will open May 16 in Southlake and Plano, boosting economic revitalization efforts and providing convenient shopping for local residents. Located at 2201 Southlake Blvd. in Southlake and 3100 Custer Road in Plano, the stores occupy buildings that formerly housed Albertson’s stores.

“Having Walmart Neighborhood Market located in Southlake is an outstanding addition to our community and to our business sector,” said Dana Davis, Southlake Chamber of Commerce president and CEO. “We look forward to their opening and engagement as a community partner as we continue to improve the offerings available to the citizens of the region.”

"We are delighted to see the new Walmart Neighborhood Market open at the southeast corner of Parker and Custer,” said Plano City Mayor, Phil Dyer. “Walmart has been a great community partner for the citizens of Plano, and they have selected a prosperous, dynamic location that should benefit from Walmart's presence."

The first Walmart Neighborhood Market opened in 1998, and today there are approximately 170 Walmart Neighborhood Markets nationwide, including 35 in the state of Texas, each featuring quick and convenient shopping for groceries, pharmaceuticals and general merchandise.

The Southlake and Plano stores are tailored for their communities, each featuring a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, as well as meats, cheeses and prepared foods. In addition to the fresh produce and bakery items, each store will carry a full line of groceries, including frozen foods, meat and dairy products, and organic items.

Shoppers will also appreciate the convenience of the stores’ pharmacies, along with a full selection of health-related products and a health and beauty area. Additional areas include stationery, paper goods, pet products and hardware items. Customers can also print their own digital photos at the stores. Both stores will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Each store will offer Site-to-Store services, a regular feature at other Walmart stores, but not typical for a Walmart Neighborhood Market. Site-to-Store is a free service that allows customers to ship online orders from www.walmart.com free to any Walmart store for pickup.

All Walmart stores and Walmart Neighborhood Markets participate in the “Pay with Cash” program. This allows customers to order online at Walmart.com and pay for the items with cash. Now, customers can shop a broader selection of items online, hundreds of thousands more items beyond its stores. Walmart is the first major retailer to offer online purchases without the need for banking services or a credit, debit or prepaid card.

The 58,000-square-foot Southlake store is located in the Southlake Marketplace shopping center, which is experiencing a period of revitalization. The store will feature a Celebration Station, where customers can buy gift wrap and gift bags, greeting cards and party supplies. The store will also carry a selection of Texas Rangers and Dallas Cowboys gear, as well as locally grown produce, including vine-ripened tomatoes, onions, peanuts and turnips. Approximately 90 associates will staff the Southlake store.

Store manager Collin Claunch began his Walmart career 20 years ago as a co-manager at a store in Mt. Pleasant and has served stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth area since 1999. His wife Tammy is a store manager at a Walmart store in Frisco.

The Southlake pharmacy will be managed by Linda Nguyen Lin, who began her Walmart career in 2005 as an hourly associate at a store in Fort Worth.

“We appreciate the Southlake community welcoming our new store to the area, and we are excited about being open in time for Memorial Day and the start of the summer holiday season,” said Claunch.

In addition to the grocery items that Walmart Neighborhood Markets generally carry, the 65,000-square-foot Plano store will also feature expanded offerings that differ from the typical Walmart Neighborhood Market format. The additional departments include electronics, baby items, toys, sporting goods, apparel and items for the home. Customers can also find a selection of Texas Proud produce items. The store will employ approximately 120 associates.

Store manager Macee Boyer began her Walmart career nine years ago as an hourly associate at a store in Joplin, Mo. She has been in the Dallas area for seven years now. Pharmacy manager David Lee recently joined Walmart and has recently relocated to the Dallas area from Boston.

“This new store is going to provide shopping convenience for our neighbors in this part of Plano,” said Boyer. “I look forward to meeting our customers and to demonstrating Walmart’s one-stop shopping at every day low prices.”

The grand-opening celebration includes a donation of a combined total of $20,000 in grants from Walmart and the Walmart Foundation to local community groups. Those groups include:

• Junior League of Collin County - Hunger Relief
• City House - Plano
• Guns and Hoses
• Special Olympics of North Texas
• Plano Law Enforcement
• St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church – Seton Arc’s Childcare

Additional funds will be available throughout the year for local organizations that serve the community. Interested groups can visit walmartstores.com/communitygiving for more information.

Each store will host a grand-opening celebration at 7:30 a.m., Wednesday, May 16. Store associates and local dignitaries will participate in a brief ceremony. Doors to the new stores will open following a 8 a.m., ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Approximately 200 part- and full-time jobs were created by the opening of the two stores. The average wage at Walmart for full-time hourly associates in Texas is approximately $12.26 per hour.*

About Walmart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) serves customers and members more than 200 million times per week at over 10,000 retail units under 69 different banners in 27 countries. With fiscal year 2012 sales of approximately $444 billion, Walmart employs more than 2 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 Facebook at http://facebook.com/walmart and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/walmart. Online merchandise sales are available at http://www.walmart.com and http://www.samsclub.com.

• Location: 2201 Southlake Blvd., Southlake, Texas
• 58,000-square-foot Walmart Neighborhood Market
• Store opens at 8 a.m., Wednesday, May 16, following a 7:30 a.m., ribbon-cutting ceremony
• Store manager: Collin Claunch
• 24 hours a day, seven days a week

• Full line of groceries, including a bakery, meat and dairy products, fresh produce, frozen foods and organic items.
• Additional merchandise includes health and beauty aids, pet and cleaning products, hardware and stationery.
• Convenience services include a pharmacy, digital photo processing center, Walmart Site-to-Store and Pay With Cash.

• $12,000 in grants from the Walmart Foundation to local organizations

• Store will employ approximately 90 associates.
• Store manager Collin Claunch began his Walmart career as an hourly associate 20 years ago at a store in Mt. Pleasant. Nearly 75 percent of Walmart store management teams began their careers as hourly associates.
• The average wage at Walmart for full-time hourly associates in Texas is approximately $12.26 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 January 2012. See www.walmartstores.com for details.

• Location: 3100 Custer Road, Plano, Texas
• 65,000-square-foot Walmart Neighborhood Market
• Store opens at 8 a.m., Wednesday, May 16, following a 7:30 a.m., ribbon-cutting ceremony
• Store manager: Macee Boyer
• Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week

• Full line of groceries, including a bakery, meat and dairy products, fresh produce, frozen foods and organic items.
• Additional merchandise includes health and beauty aids, pet and cleaning products, hardware and stationery.
• Store will also carry electronics, baby items, apparel and items for the home.
• Convenience services include a pharmacy, digital photo processing center, Walmart Site-to-Store and Pay With Cash.

• $8,000 in grants from the Walmart Foundation to area organizations

• Store will employ approximately 120 associates.
• Store manager Macee Boyer began her Walmart career as an hourly associate in 2005 at a store in Joplin, Mo. Nearly 75 percent of Walmart store management teams began their careers as hourly associates.
• The average wage at Walmart for full-time hourly associates in Texas is approximately $12.26 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 January. See www.walmartstores.com for details.

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