Walmart set to debut redesign of Oxford store | Events

OXFORD, Miss., May 17, 2010 – The Oxford Walmart, located at 2530 W. Jackson Ave. W., will celebrate a grand re-opening this week, giving local shoppers a glimpse of the company’s next generation of store design and customer experience. The results of a three-month remodeling project will be unveiled at the Oxford Walmart at 8 a.m., Friday, May 21. Among the many improvements are a new layout, wider aisles, low-profile shelving, bright interior paint scheme, enhanced lighting and easy-to-read signage to make the shopping experience more convenient for customers.

“We listened to our customers and have redesigned the store to make shopping at Walmart even easier,” said store manager Richard Childers.

New Layout Improves Customer Experience
The remodeled Oxford store features a more open shopping environment with wider aisles that contain no product displays. Walmart also aligned the departments that customers shop most frequently, making it quicker to purchase everyday items, including moving the pet department next to the grocery department.

A bright interior paint scheme and enhanced lighting create a more inviting shopping experience and help define the store’s merchandise areas. Low-profile shelving creates an improved sightline and directional signage helps customers find the products they need.  

Among the changes, Walmart completely renovated the pharmacy with an open design, creating a much friendlier, accessible experience. The store also added all new registers and combined the Site-to-Store pick-up location and photo lab into a single area at the rear of the store. In addition, customers will appreciate the new computerized color-matching system in the paint department.

Expanded Departments Add Value and Savings
The remodel brings Walmart customers an expanded electronics department featuring a wide selection of the latest consumer electronics and home entertainment. The new design includes a more hands-on experience for customers with interactive displays for hi-definition Blu-ray, video gaming and portable electronics. The interactive experience enables shoppers to test new technology.

A new department called Celebration Station has been added and will feature party supplies, greeting cards, balloons and helium tanks, cake supplies and gift wrap.

Grand Re-opening Activities Include Support for Local Organizations
The grand re-opening celebration is scheduled for Friday, May 21, and will begin with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 8 a.m. Local dignitaries including members of the Oxford Chamber of Commerce and the Oxford Fire Department will join Childers to help cut the ribbon to the newly remodeled store.

During the ceremony, store associates will present a total of $5,000 in grants from the Walmart Foundation to local organizations, including a grant to the Oxford Fire Department, which plans to use the grant for community education. According to Oxford Fire Department Fire & Life Safety Educator William Stewart, the grant comes at a much needed time.

“The Oxford Fire Department would like to thank Walmart for the grant,” said Stewart. “The grant will be used to help purchase a 9-1-1 simulator which will be used to teach the proper technique for dialing 9-1-1 to every student in pre-k thru third grade in Oxford,” added Stewart.

Additional local organizations receiving grants include:

•    American Legion Post 55
•    VOX Press
•    Bruce Upper Elementary School
•    Oxford Fire Department
•    Oxford Civic Chorus
•    Oxford School District
•    Lafayette County School
•    United Way Pantry of Oxford-Lafayette County
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Commitment to the Environment
The store is also committed to being a good environmental steward. Part of the cement used in the store’s concrete flooring is made with recycled materials, and the baseboards are manufactured from 100 percent recycled plastic. The photo department also uses green technology, operating completely without liquid chemicals for photo processing. The store also has improved its recycling efforts with a new recycling program which features a sandwich bale process that takes all loose plastic, hangers, aluminum cans and office paper, sandwiches them between cardboard, bundles them into bales and sends them to recycling centers.