Check out the full press release below.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Walmart Opens New Neighborhood Market in Evergreen Village
New store offer customers savings with grocery format
SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 25, 2013 – Walmart will open a new Walmart Neighborhood Market in the Evergreen area of San Jose on Wednesday, Jan. 30. The store, located in Evergreen Village Square near Aborn Road and Ruby Avenue, is occupying the former Lunardi’s Market space, and will once again provide Evergreen Village with a full-service grocery store.
“Walmart looks forward to serving Evergreen Village by bringing a much-needed grocery store back to the Square,” said Store Manager Priscilla Sanchez. “Not only will the Neighborhood Market revitalize the long-vacant building, it will provide additional healthy, affordable food choices for this community.
Walmart has worked closely with the shopping center owner, Shapell Properties, and the City of San Jose to bring a grocery store anchor back to Evergreen Village Square. “Shappell built the first few phases of Evergreen Village in 2002 with the vision of having a vibrant merchant square for the community to gather and shop close to home, “ said Kelly Erardi, Vice President of Shapell Properties. “We have been working to bring a grocery store anchor back to Evergreen Village Square, and are pleased that Walmart has stepped up to fill the void.”
“Evergreen Coffee Company joins other Evergreen Village Square businesses in welcoming the Walmart Neighborhood Market to the neighborhood,” said owner Denise Belisle. “The square has long sought another grocery store anchor for the vacant space. We are excited for Walmart to join our special community.”
The approximately 41,000-square-foot store features a wide variety of locally produced fruits and vegetables, including those from Ocean Mist Farms, Boskovich Farms, Tanimura and Antle, San Miguel Produce, Earthbound Farm Organic, Naturipe Farms, California Cuties and Foxy Organic, among others. The store will offer fresh bread, as well as meats, cheeses and prepared foods. The self-serve deli will feature rotisserie chicken, fresh-baked pizza and standard deli sides. In addition to the fresh produce, bakery and deli items, the store will carry a full line of groceries, including frozen foods, dairy products, organic items, and an expanded selection of Asian and Mediterranean items.
Shoppers will also appreciate the convenience of the store’s pharmacy and its full range of products and services to support the health and wellness of customers and their families. The pharmacy team can answer questions and offer health and wellness solutions. They can also assist customers who wish to transfer their prescriptions to the Walmart Neighborhood Market.
The store also sells stationery, paper goods, pet products, hardware items and has a Celebration Station, where customers can buy gift wrap and gift bags, greeting cards and party supplies. Customers can also print their own digital photos at the store. The store will be open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week.
“We are thrilled to be opening the Evergreen Village Neighborhood Market just in time for the Super Bowl and spring holidays,” said Sanchez. “From veggie platters, chicken wings and dips for the big game to chocolates, cupcakes and goodies for Valentine's Day, we will have everything you’ll need to have fantastic celebrations.”
The store will offer Site-to-Store, a free service that allows customers to ship online orders from www.walmart.com free to any Walmart store for pickup. All Walmart stores and Neighborhood Markets participate in the Pay with Cash program. This allows customers to order online at Walmart.com and pay for the items with cash at all stores in the U.S. Walmart is the first major retailer to offer online purchases without the need for banking services or a credit, debit or prepaid card.
Opening Creates 90 Jobs
Approximately 90 part- and full-time jobs were created with the store opening, said Sanchez who started her Walmart career in 2000 as a part-time hourly associate in Tulare. She transferred to San Jose and has worked at Walmart stores on Monterey Highway and Story Road over the past 10 years. She brings a wealth of experience such as department manager, support manager, and personnel manager to the new Walmart Neighborhood Market.
Grand-Opening Celebrations
The store will host a grand-opening celebration at 7:15 a.m., Wednesday, Jan. 30. Store associates and local dignitaries will participate in a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony. Doors to the new store will be open to the public following the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Special events on grand-opening day include product giveaways and samplings from companies such as Frito-Lay, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Bimbo Bakeries, Nabisco and more. Chester Cheetah, the Oreo Cookie Man, the Keebler Elf and Bimbo Bear are scheduled to make appearances, and various entertainment events will also take place. Celebration events are also planned for Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 1 and 2. All events are family-friendly, free and open to the public.
Community Groups Benefit from Grand-Opening Grants
The grand-opening celebration includes at least $10,000 in grants from Walmart and the Walmart Foundation to local community groups. Recipients include: Alum Rock Youth Center, District 8 Community Round Table, Evergreen Valley Education Foundation, Evergreen Valley High School Band, FAAN Walk for Food Allergy, San Jose Fire Department, San Jose Police Activity League, the San Jose Veteran Center, Shop with a Cop Foundation and Masumoto Elementary School. Additional funds will be available throughout the year for local organizations that serve the community.
Walmart will also be announcing $175,000 in grants from the Walmart Foundation’s California State Giving Council. Recipients include Dress for Success Silicon Valley, the Silicon Valley Education Foundation and the San Jose Public Library Foundation. Non-profit organizations interested in learning more can visithttp://www.foundation.walmart.
Healthier Food and “Great For You”
Walmart made a major commitment to make food healthier and healthier food more affordable, ensuring families won’t have to choose between a product that is good for them and one they can afford. Steps in the healthier food initiative include:
- Reformulate thousands of packaged food items by 2015 by reducing sodium and added sugars and removing all remaining industrially produced trans fats.
- Make healthier choices more affordable by providing savings on fresh produce and reducing the price premium on “better-for-you” items.
- Provide solutions to address food deserts by bringing stores in underserved communities.
- Increase charitable support for nutrition programs that help educate consumers about healthier food solutions and choices.
The “Great For You” icon appears on select Great Value and Marketside products as well as fresh and packaged fruits and vegetables. The icon was developed to help customers easily identify nutritious food options so they can make healthier eating choices for themselves and their families. For more information, visit corporate.walmart.com/
About Walmart Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) helps people around the world save money and live better – anytime and anywhere – in retail stores, online, and through their mobile devices. Each week, more than 200 million customers and members visit our 10,400 stores under 69 banners in 27 countries and e-commerce websites in 10 countries. With fiscal year 2012 sales of approximately $444 billion, Walmart employs more than 2.2 million associates worldwide. Walmart continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting http://corporate.walmart.com, on Facebook athttp://facebook.com/walmart
FACT SHEET
San Jose Walmart Neighborhood Market
Store Facts
- Location: 4055 Evergreen Village Square, San Jose, Calif.
- Approximately 41,000-square-foot Walmart Neighborhood Market
- Store opens Wednesday, Jan. 30, following a 7:15 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony
- Store manager: Priscilla Sanchez
- Pharmacy manager: Peter Ea
- Store hours: 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week
Store features
- Full line of groceries, including a bakery, a self-serve deli with fresh food and meal solutions for moms, meat and dairy products, fresh produce, frozen foods, organic items and an expanded selection of Asian and Mediterranean items
- Additional merchandise includes health and beauty aids, pet and cleaning products, hardware and stationery
- Convenience services include a pharmacy, digital-photo processing center, Walmart MoneyCenter and Walmart Site-to-Store
Charitable giving
- $10,000 in grand-opening grants from Walmart and the Walmart Foundation will be presented to area organizations, including:
- Alum Rock Youth Center
- District 8 Community Round Table
- Evergreen Valley Education Foundation
- Evergreen Valley High School Band
- FAAN Walk for Food Allergy
- San Jose Fire Department
- San Jose Police Activity League
- San Jose Veteran Center
- Shop with a Cop Foundation
- Masumoto Elementary School
- $175,000 in grants from the Walmart Foundation California State Giving Program will be presented to area organizations, including:
- Dress For Success Silicon Valley
- Silicon Valley Education Foundation
- San Jose Public Library Foundation
Employment
- The average wage at Walmart for full-time hourly associates in California is approximately $12.89 per hour.*
- Walmart’s benefit program is available to eligible full- and part-time associates and provides a variety of affordable health and well-being benefits including health-care coverage with no lifetime maximum. Walmart also offers eligible associates matching 401(k) contributions of up to 6 percent of pay, discounts on general merchandise, an Associate Stock Purchase Program and company-paid life insurance. Additionally, eligible associates receive a quarterly incentive based on store performance.
* Average wage taken October 2012 See http://corporate.walmart.com for details.
Thrilling. Not. Gag...
ReplyDeleteWhy the gag? I just never understood these negative comments posted without any reason for the negativity...
ReplyDeleteWalmart, seriously?
ReplyDeleteI've read on the Fresh & Easy blog that the UK parent company (of F&E) may just sell out to WalMart because they cannot make it in US. We may be seeing more of this!
ReplyDeleteI live across the street from Evergreen Village and went to the market this morning. It does the job, but I was a little bit disappointed. I had seen other Neighborhood Markets online (downtown Chicago) and many resembled the Market by Safeway at The 88: polished concrete flooring, exposed duct work, vibrant colors, an overall cool urban vibe. This new WalMart Market is simply a smaller version of its big box brethren, which is to say cheap looking: white tile flooring, bright yellow walls and high white ceilings. I'll definitely go back because of the convenience factor, but its no Lunardis, which I now truly miss...
ReplyDeleteIts bad enough we, as a city, can't support family run businesses (Lunardi's). We make things worse when we celebrate the arrival of a walmart in its place. Sure, this will bring some jobs and some convenience that was lost - we'll take what we get. But its not something we should celebrate or even publicize in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteAre you kidding? Would you rather have an empty retail space in a key shopping center?
DeleteRather than Walmart, yeah. What I don't get is that in one of the largest cities in America, this is even worthy of posting.
DeleteWhen a key spot empty for years is filled with a new grocer, I think it's worthwhile information. The evergreen village is a project that had tons of potential and fell on hard times for a while. Originally they were even planning a small movie theater and a restaurant overlooking the lake. That never materialized, but hopefully they will continue to build this out. I'll definitely take a Walmart Market over nothing here any day. It may not be Lundardi's, but I don't think anyone is going to complain about the prices they will be paying.
DeleteJosh, this is anon #1 above.
DeleteYes, empty spaces are not good. But in my opinion, we don have to celebrate the filling up of all empty spaces. We can leave out the walmarts - they dont need extra publicity. The people in that neighborhood dont need the extra publicity either - they already know. The thing that worries me is this - if we start posting positive things about a walmart taking over, it becomes harder for family run businesses to stay in business. And rather than stemming the increase in strip malls this would encourage it. We should encourage and celebrate the things that make this city unique. My 2 cents.
Good work on the blog in general.
I agree with Josh. Having the Walmart market there does bring jobs and can help bring in foot traffic. With more FOOT TRAFFIC, other retailers will move in. Having an empty space means no tax dollars, no jobs, no money and causes people to drive further for groceries. Some of these anonymous comments only think 1 way and not outside the box. Great things will keep coming. Think Positive and that's what I do every day.
ReplyDeleteBut a Wal-Mart (at least it isn't a full store, but just the Neighborhood Market; I've been to the one at Westgate: it's just a grocery) might just prevent small business from moving in and taking advantage of the potential increase in foot traffic. Depends on the type of business, I suppose. I'm honestly conflicted as to whether this is a good thing or bad.
DeleteThe comment is anonymous, because I don't have an account to log in with - and it's easier.
ReplyDeleteIt's not all about prices. That's a pretty lame approach. Same goes for filling in empty real estate. And businesses that locate near a Walmart? That's going to yield quality merchants, cafes, etc?
Being pro-Walmart is thinking out of the box? Seriously?
Eric
I am happy that new market has opened in place of the Lunardi's. It is difficult location for a retail place to run profitably. I hope Walmart with its deep pockets will stay there longer.
ReplyDeleteWalmart is the leading companies and remains consistent in the market how lovely to see the its ranking living upto its stantdards.
ReplyDeleteI really hope this Walmart doesn't stay around too long. First, why did it take so long to remodel a grocery store into anorher grocery store? Ot was so nice and inviting before. Now its depressing inside. Second, why werent peope from the surrounding area hired to work there? Its obvious that the employees and even most of the shoppers are not from the neighborhood. And to top everything off, a few days after the opening that was already the typical person outside harassing people for money. One the novelty of it wears off the people that are coming in from outside the neighborhood stop shopping there, the day for this place will be numbered. After visiting it twice, I will never return.
ReplyDeleteWatch, one or both union stores Luckys or SaveMart will close. Locally owed and union employees will be out of work. How many of the Walmart employees own a house in the neighborhood?
ReplyDelete