Walmart To Remodel 43 Stores Including Pinellas Park Location

PINELLAS PARK, FL -- Over the next year, Walmart plans to spend about $200 million to open and remodel 43 stores in Florida and introduce in-store and online changes. The remodels include Walmart stores in Tampa, Sarasota, Port Richey, Pinellas Park, Haines City, Gibsonton, Clearwater and Naples.

Todd Owen, a market manager for Walmart in the Tampa area, said the changes are intended to make shopping more convenient for Walmart customers.

“Shopping habits are changing faster than ever, so we’re listening to our customers and responding to their needs with new ways to save them both time and money,” Owen told Business Observer.

Details about what improvements will be made to certain stores haven’t been finalized yet, Owen said.
In addition to the remodels, Walmart is expanding a number of programs that will affect its stores, said the retailer in a press release.

Walmart is bringing online grocery pickup to 1,000 additional stores around the country this year, adding pickup towers for online orders to another 500 stores and expanding Mobile Express Scan & Go, which allows shoppers to scan and pay for items with their smartphones.

Pickup towers were placed in 200 stores last year, allowing shoppers to quickly retrieve more than 500,000 online orders.

As a result, Walmart plans to add more than 500 additional pickup towers to stores across the country including some Florida stores.

Shoppers could also see wider aisles, shorter shelving, new signs and flooring, a redesigned electronics department with interactive displays, an updated pharmacy area with private consultation rooms, additional self-checkouts, as well as other upgrades to the cosmetics, home, hardware, auto, baby and produce departments.

Images via Walmart