Walmart Announces Plans for 2019

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April 10, 2019
Walmart Plans Estimated $36 Million in Washington Store Improvements and Innovations in 2019
Washington customers gaining more convenience and shopping options across the state
Building on its commitment to save customers time and money in new ways, Walmart expects to spend an estimated $36 million this year in Washington through the remodeling of seven stores, as well as the launch and continued expansion of several customer-focused innovations.
“Walmart’s significant investment in customer-focused innovations showcases our commitment to helping Washington customers save time and money in new ways,” said Travis Bailey, Walmart regional general manager in Washington. “I’m continuously impressed with our associates’ dedication to launching new in-store innovations to create a seamless shopping experience for our customers. We look forward to exceeding customer expectations and helping them shop when, where and how they want.”
2019 Walmart Remodels in Washington
Walmart plans to remodel stores in the following locations:
Remodels
  • 4010 172nd St. NE, Arlington, Washington
  • 4420 Meridian St., Bellingham, Washington
  • 3715 Ocean Beach Hwy #2, Longview, Washington
  • 1005 N. Stratford Rd., Moses Lake, Washington
  • 902 Engh Rd., Omak, Washington
  • 7600 SW Dartmouth St., Poulsbo, Washington
  • 5025 E. Sprague Ave., Spokane Valley, Washington
2019 Walmart Innovations in Washington
Walmart will continue to innovate to help customers save time and money by creating a seamless shopping experience that gives them the options to shop when, where and how they want. The following are examples of the customer-focused innovations that will be launching or expanded this year in Washington.
(1) Grocery Pickup
• Busy customers love Walmart’s grocery pickup option. It gives them the convenience of shopping online and the ease of quickly picking up groceries without having to leave their cars. The best part: it’s all at no additional cost. Walmart plans to expand the popular program to more than 18 stores across the state by the end of the year. The company also recently introduced Walmart Voice Order, which allows customers to simply say “Hey Google, talk to Walmart” and the Google Assistant will add items directly to their Walmart Grocery cart.
 
(2) Grocery Delivery
• Walmart’s convenient grocery delivery service is also proving to be a hit with customers. This year, Walmart plans to add the service to 17 stores, increasing its coverage area in the state.
 
(3) Walmart Pickup Towers
• Walmart Pickup Towers are 16-feet tall, high-tech vending machines capable of fulfilling a customer’s online order in less than a minute once they arrive at the store. It’s easy to do-- once the order is ready, step up to the Pickup Tower and scan the barcode sent to your smartphone to retrieve your item. This year, Walmart plans to add four Pickup Towers to stores across the state.
 
(4) FAST Unloader
• Today, product is unloaded as it arrives at the store through a complex, highly manual process that has seen little innovation over the last 50 years – until now. A new system in Walmart backrooms- known as FAST-automatically scans and sorts items that come off trucks based on priority and department, allowing associates to spend less time unloading in the backroom and more time on the sales floor with customers. This year, Walmart plans to expand the technology to 19 stores across the state.
 
(5) Autonomous Floor Scrubber
• The autonomous floor scrubber uses assisted autonomy technology to perform the task of cleaning and scrubbing the concrete floors in stores. The company plans to expand the technology to 18 stores across the state this year.
 
 
Background and Context
Capital and Innovation Expenditure: The estimated spend in the state this fiscal year (Feb. 1, 2019 – Jan. 31, 2020) is a portion of Walmart’s total capital expenditure guidance of approximately $11.0 billion for Fiscal Year 2020, which was outlined last October at the company’s annual meeting for the investment community and reiterated in February 2019.
 
National Innovation Expansion Strategy: Nationwide this fiscal year Walmart plans to add an additional 1,200 autonomous floor scrubbers, 300 autonomous shelf-scanners, 1,200 FAST unloaders and 900 Pickup Towers to stores across the country. Also, the company plans to expand Online Grocery Pickup to an additional 1,000 stores and add another 800 stores across the country to the retailer’s Grocery Delivery footprint.
 
About Walmart in Washington
Walmart 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. In Washington we serve customers at 67 retail units and online through Walmart Online Grocery, http://Walmart.com and our family of brands. We are proud to employ 19,321 associates in Washington. Walmart supports local businesses, spending $2.89 billion with Washington suppliers in FYE19 and supporting 42,118 Washington supplier jobs. Walmart continues to be a leader in employment opportunity, sustainability, and corporate philanthropy. In FY18, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation contributed more than $16 million in cash and in-kind donations to local nonprofits in Washington and our
Washington associates volunteered more than 16,000 hours with local causes. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting our corporate website and our Instagram, Facebook and Twitt