Mayor Suttle, along with Jim Canney of Walmart, David Brown of the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, State Senator Brenda Council, Councilman Ben Gray and others, announce the new Walmart Supercenter to be built at 50th & Ames
April, 9, 2012 — Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle was joined this morning by public officials, community and neighborhood organizations, business representatives, as well as the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce in welcoming Walmart representatives and their plans for a new full-service store at 50th and Ames. The new Walmart will feature fresh, affordable food and general merchandise under one roof. It will not only create a shopping destination, but will also have a positive economic impact on the entire North Omaha community. If approved by the City Council, doors are expected to open for this store by late Fall and create approximately 275 new jobs.
“We are excited that Walmart is opening a new store in North Omaha,” said Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle. “It fills a tremendous retail and grocery need in addition to providing new employment opportunities in an area of our community where the demand for all of these needs is great.”
The store will be approximately 184,000 square feet, including an outdoor garden center, and feature everyday household items, electronics, apparel and a pharmacy, as well as a full line of groceries with fresh produce, meat and dairy products, a bakery and deli. The new Walmart will be a part of the shopping center on the northwest corner of 50th & Ames Streets. The new Walmart will replace the old Baker’s Supermarket and the existing Family Dollar Store.
“Our store is perfect for this community by providing a one-stop shopping destination where Omaha customers can find familiar brands and fresh and affordable food choices at a great value,” said Jim Canney, regional general manager for Walmart stores in Omaha. “We look forward to providing job opportunities and career choices, from seniors looking for supplemental income to young people wanting to gain work experience to associates looking to build a career.
Walmart jobs are good jobs – offering competitive wages and benefits, and opportunities to build careers. Nearly 75 percent of Walmart’s store management team joined the company as hourly associates. In 2010, more than 146,000 hourly associates in Walmart U.S. stores received promotions, and 55 percent of those associates were women.
“The Greater Omaha Chamber’s business development team has remained in contact with Wal-Mart for a number of years from a number of angles,” said Chamber President and CEO David G. Brown. “We worked with them as they considered various potential sites in North Omaha and we worked with the current property owners on several possible business investment projects. It is so rewarding to see all of the pieces coming together with jobs, significant investment and retail coming to North Omaha.”
Potential job seekers can visit www.walmartstores.com/careers for additional information on Walmart’s career opportunities in the area. The retailer will also create numerous temporary jobs during the store’s construction phase.
As of January 31, 2012, the total number of Walmart associates in Nebraska was 10,631 with the average wage for a regular, full-time hourly associate at $11.87 per hour.
About Walmart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) serves customers and members more than 200 million times per week at over 10,000 retail units under 69 different banners in 28 countries. With fiscal year 2011 sales of $419 billion, Walmart employs 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://walmartstores.com, and on Facebook at http://facebook.com/walmart and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/walmart. Online merchandise sales are available at http://www.walmart.com and http://www.samsclub.com.
