On Monday, US retail chain Walmart said it would invest over $9 billion through a two-year period to upgrade and modernize some of the retail chain’s US stores by improving the layouts, expanding the product selections, and adding new technologies to streamline operations.
117 stores in 30 states will reopen while launching the new improvements on Friday, after spending $500 million on the upgrades, according to a statement by the retail chain. The company said that overall it plans to modernize over 1,400 of its 4,717 retail stores across the nation. The remodeling plans will not affect its warehouse club chain, Sam’s Club, according to a spokesperson.
John Furner, chief executive officer of Walmart’s U.S. business said, “These construction investments allow us to create more local jobs and make it easier for our associates to get customers what they want, when they want it.”
As steep inflation has raised the prices of everything from eggs to chocolate over the past two years, the low-cost and low-margin groceries offered by the retail chain have been an enormous draw for Americans looking to make their dollars go farther.
As a result, as inflation raged, company sales surpassed $600 billion in 2022, a record.
As it maintains the foot traffic, the Betonville, Arkansas-based retailer is looking to transition from a steep discount outlet, to a retailer where customers can purchase fashionable clothing and home goods.
To those ends, the company has been running tests with remodeled concept stores which it has termed “Stores of the Future” at select Walmart Supercenters, including at Teterboro in New Jersey earlier in the year. Executives termed the concept a success, noting same-store sales rose by a few percentage points in some cases, and in the case of the Teterboro location, up to 20%
On Monday, the country will see the concept tested there rolled out nationally, according to a company spokesperson.
The revamped stores will feature refreshed interiors and exteriors, with fresh paint, updated flooring, newer, more modern restrooms, LED lighting, and new signage for improved navigation through the stores, according to the company.
At check-out there will also be more options, with staffed lanes and more self-checkout stations, as well as more grab and go food and beverage products in the grocery sections.
Pharmacies at the stores will also be getting a makeover, with bigger square footage and private screening rooms for pharmacist consultations and services, as well as information on Walmart services available online via digital screens and QR codes.
