Walmart is once again betting on physical stores with 150 new establishments in the US

The giant Walmart, a prominent world leader in distribution, is once again betting on physical stores in the era of booming e-commerce.

The company announced this Wednesday that it plans to build or convert more than 150 establishments in the United States in the next five years, while continuing with its program of renovations and remodeling of existing ones.

The group based in Bentonville (Arkansas) is absolutely dependent on the evolution of the United States economy.

The company has 1.6 million direct employees in the country and has more than 3,900 stores in all 50 states, Washington and Puerto Rico.

Walmart US had net sales of $420.6 billion in fiscal year 2022-2023, representing 69% of the group's total.

It is not only the business unit with the highest turnover, but also the most profitable.

The expansion plan for physical stores comes after almost three years of hiatus in this regard, partly due to the pandemic and partly by decision due to changes in consumer habits.

Walmart already announced in 2016 that it was stopping new openings to invest in its efforts in online sales, technology and remodeling of existing stores.

However, the company has seen that when it comes to shopping, especially when it comes to food, the majority of consumers continue to go to stores.

Walmart has also attracted customers with higher incomes in an inflationary environment in which buyers are very careful about what they spend.

The company continues to have problems with e-commerce, where Amazon leads, but it is also proceeding with greater integration of virtual store and physical stores, which it uses to fulfill online orders and as collection points.

The announcement of the new openings has been made by John Furner, the president and CEO of Walmart US. In addition to the openings, he has announced renovations in a good part of the existing stores: “In the next 12 months, we plan to remodel 650 stores in 47 states and Puerto Rico, which will mean the creation of tens of thousands of jobs in these projects.

This is in addition to the hundreds of jobs we will bring to a community every time we open a new store.

And those jobs come with incredible perks, like free college tuition from day one, flexible schedules, and competitive paid time off,” he said in a statement.

The first two stores of the 150-opening plan will open their doors this spring in Santa Rosa Beach (Florida) and Atlanta (Georgia).

Walmart is also finalizing construction plans for 12 new projects it plans to start this year, along with converting one of its smaller stores into a Walmart Supercenter, a hypermarket.

Its new and remodeled stores will reflect Walmart's new “store of the future” concept, with improved layout and design, a broader product selection and innovative technology to help workers better serve customers and make purchase is more comfortable for them, according to Furner.

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