Dive Brief:

• Walmart on Friday will celebrate the grand reopening of 117 stores representing over a half a billion dollars in capital investments across 30 states, the company announced Monday. Walmart is investing more than $9 billion over two years to modernize over 1,400 stores across the U.S. 
• The retailer said it has revamped the stores with better layouts, wider product selections and various technological improvements as part of its “Signature Experience” initiative, which aims to enhance the shopping experience for customers. 
• Among the improvements the retailer has made to its stores are interactive corner displays, larger pharmacies, rooms for nursing parents, QR codes and digital screens with information for shoppers and a Dollar Shop at store entrances with seasonal products.

Dive Insight:

Walmart is tapping into its network of brick-and-mortar locations to better serve customers.

Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner in April called the company’s stores “the key nodes” in its omnichannel operation. Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey also at that time said that nearly 90% of Walmart’s capital expenditures will be in “high return areas like e-commerce, supply chain and store investments,” over the next five years. 

Friday will represent the largest single-day rollout of re-grand openings in company history. Other store enhancements include larger online grocery pickup and delivery areas and a new grab-and-go section for quick meal and drink options. Stores also have refreshed exteriors and interiors, more shopping carts and a new checkout design that was based on customer feedback. 

In February, Walmart announced plans to shutter two stores in Arkansas and Illinois that only served pickup and delivery orders. That month, Rainey said during a fourth-quarter earnings call that Walmart’s store-fulfilled deliveries nearly tripled over the past two years. The retailer said more than 3,900 out of its 4,717 stores now offer same-day delivery. 

“With nearly 90% of the U.S. population living within 10 miles of a Walmart, we understand how important our local stores are to customers and communities, and these construction investments allow us to create more local jobs and make it easier for our associates to get customers what they want, when they want it,” Furner said in a statement about the reopenings.