Gillette Wal-Mart Supercenter Expands; Invites Community to Celebrate Grand Opening on WednesdayStore features newest prototype, including expanded groceries, Tire & Lube Express
GILLETTE, Wyo., Oct. 18, 2006 – The expanded Wal-Mart Supercenter in Gillette will celebrate its grand opening on Wednesday, Oct. 25, with community leaders sharing what the store brings to the area including 200 planned new jobs, every day low prices, and an initial $21,750 donated to local charities upon its opening. The store, designed as a convenient one-stop family shopping center, will hold its grand opening celebration at 7:30 a.m., with doors opening at 8 a.m. The store is located at 2300 S. Douglas Highway. Store Expands to Include Services Important to Customers “Customers are excited about the availability of expanded groceries,” said Store Manager Jay Mueller. “That’s probably the biggest question I get every day. The Tire & Lube Express is also important to customers, along with the one-hour photo lab and vision center.” The closest Supercenter is 90 miles away in Spearfish, S.D., Mueller says, so the expanded store will offer added convenience to customers. The 206,911-square-foot Gillette Supercenter now features Wal-Mart’s newest prototype, which includes wider aisles, new navigation signage, an updated color scheme, along with other special services for customers, such as a drive-through pharmacy with two drive-up windows. The store will also have a bakery, a delicatessen, a frozen food section and meat, dairy and fresh produce. In addition, it will offer 36 general merchandise departments, including apparel and accessories, fine jewelry, a lawn and garden center, health and beauty aids, and a full line of electronics. It will be open to customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week and will include 14 full-service, 10 express and four self check-out lanes. Customers will also be able to enjoy a Subway restaurant, a family fun center, a one-hour photo lab, a vision center, a SmartStyle Family Hair Salon, a nail salon and a Wal-Mart Connect Center for wireless phone sales. Just in time for the holiday and Christmas seasons, the new store will open with Wal-Mart’s “Toyland,” featuring the hottest toys at the coolest prices. Customers will be able to fill any child’s wish list with everything from classic favorites such as Baby Alive, digital and electronic toys, board games to plush toy characters that come to life. A Focus on Community Upon its opening, the store will announce $21,750 in donations through Wal-Mart’s Good Works community involvement program to a number of organizations. The following three organizations will each be presented with $5,000 grants: the Council of Community Services, the Campbell County Health Care Foundation and the Campbell County Sheriff’s Department D.A.R.E. program. The store will also have a budget to give donations away locally throughout the year. Organizations interested in receiving funding can contact the store for details. Grand Opening Celebration Details The store welcomes the community to attend its celebration at 7:30 a.m. on Oct. 25. Pastor Wesley Smith of New Life Wesleyan Church will lead the invocation and representatives from the local Moorecroft Veterans of Foreign Wars will present the colors at the ceremony. Associate Brittany Alvarado and her brother, Robert VanKerriebrook, will perform the national anthem, and 11 associates who have been with the Gillette store since its original grand opening will cut the ribbon to officially open the new Supercenter. Numerous product samples and give-aways will be distributed throughout the day. 200 New Jobs Planned Mueller says the store plans to bring more than 200 new jobs to the market, most of which will be full-time. The store plans to employ approximately 400 associates. Twenty of the Gillette store’s associates have worked for Wal-Mart for more than 10 years, added Mueller, including 11 with 15-plus years of experience. The national average wage at Wal-Mart for full-time hourly associates is approximately $10.11 per hour.* Wal-Mart has created more than 240,000 new jobs over the past three years in the United States. Mueller started as an hourly associate 18 years ago at a store in Anna, Ill. The store manager says he’s thrilled to be back in Wyoming after leaving the state two years ago. He was store manager at the Rock Springs Supercenter from 1998 until 2004, and just returned this summer to the Gillette store to “help usher in a new era” at the expanded Supercenter. About Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) Every week, more than 176 million customers visit Wal-Mart stores, Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets, Sam’s Clubs or a subsidiary location in 15 countries around the world. In each of the countries where Wal-Mart operates, the company and its Foundation are committed to a philosophy of operating globally and giving back locally. Wal-Mart is proud to support the causes that are important to customers and associates right in their own neighborhoods, and last year gave more than $270 million to these local communities. To learn more, visit www.walmartfacts.com, www.walmart.com or www.walmartfoundation.org. Wal-Mart Economic Impact in Wyoming EDITOR’S NOTE: See www.walmartfacts.com for more information about Wal-Mart in Wyoming. As of September 2006, Wal-Mart employed 3,639 associates and owned and operated the following facilities in the state of Wyoming:
In the fiscal year ending 2006, Wal-Mart collected on behalf of the state of Wyoming more than $33.5 million in sales taxes and paid more than $1.1 million in state and local taxes. EDITOR’S NOTES
FACT SHEET
Gillette Wal-Mart Supercenter Store fast facts
Store features
$21,750 in charitable contributions to several area organizations
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