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Ribbon-cutting ceremony participants at Metrocenter Mall, northwest Phoenix, AZ
include Councilwoman Thelda Williams, far left, Warren Fink is second
from left,
Duane Morrison is center with scissors. Others include local
community
and Walmart participants. |
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| Warren Fink |
PHOENIX, AZ – Phoenix-area
elected officials and dignitaries, Walmart executives and loads of happy
shoppers celebrated the grand opening of a new Walmart Supercenter this week at
the iconic Metrocenter Mall, in
northwest Phoenix.
“Opening the doors to this
Walmart Supercenter and seeing the aisles fill with shoppers is so gratifying
for all of us who’ve worked to bring this day to fruition,” said Paula Ginnett, a Walmart Vice President
and Regional General Manager in Arizona. “We’re excited to be able to better
serve our customers in northwest Phoenix, and to be part of the revitalization
of the Phoenix landmark that is Metrocenter Mall.”
The 148,000-square-foot
Walmart represents the single largest capital investment at Metrocenter Mall in
decades. Built new from the ground up, the store is built on the site of the
former Broadway building, which had been vacant since 2006.
“The opening of the new
Walmart at Metrocenter Mall has not only created hundreds of jobs for Arizonans,
but is also part of a larger effort to revitalize this landmark shopping
complex,” said Jennifer Mellor, Vice
President of Economic Development for the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce.
“This is exciting because it will be a major piece of the mall’s transformation
into a multi-use, urban center.”
"Today's grand
opening is the first physical step in our strategic redevelopment of
Metrocenter," said Warren Fink,
Chief Operating Officer for Carlyle Development Group. "With their
opening, Walmart adds momentum to that effort and becomes part of our larger
vision, which is to transform this site into a dynamic live-work-play
environment, with multiple uses and a quickly-evolving mass transit system that
will directly link this location to the entire metro area."
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| Paula Ginnett |
The store offers a broad
assortment of general merchandise and groceries, including an expanded
selection of organics and gluten-free products, at Walmart’s Everyday Low
Prices.
Customers will also enjoy
convenient on-site services, such as a full pharmacy with multiple service
lanes and private consultation room, as well as a Walmart Pickup lounge,
providing an easy way to shop millions of products on Walmart.com. The new
store creates up to 300 jobs for full- and part-time associates.
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| Jennifer Mellor |
The store will employ up
to 300 full- and part-time associates. At the new Metrocenter location, Store
Manager Duane Morrison started with
Walmart 15 years ago and has managed multiple stores in Arizona.
Starting in 2015, Walmart
began making a $2.7 billion investment over a two-year period in higher wages,
more scheduling choices and further training for its associates. As part of
increased wages across the company, the average full-time hourly associate now
makes $13.79/hour in Arizona.
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| Thelda Williams |
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) helps people
around the world save money and live better – anytime and anywhere – in retail
stores, online, and through their mobile devices. Each week, nearly 260 million
customers and members visit our 11,527 stores under 63 banners in 28 countries
and e-commerce websites in 11 countries.
With fiscal year 2017
revenue of $486 billion, Walmart employs more than 2.3 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://corporate.walmart.com 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.
For more information on this press release, please
contact:
Stacey Hershauer
focusAZ
Marketing & Public
Relations
(480) 600-0195
