OREANDA-NEWS. The new Walmart Neighborhood Market in St. Cloud will open to the community Wednesday, April 13, bringing a broad assortment of fresh, affordable groceries at Walmart’s everyday low prices. Customers will also enjoy the convenience of on-site services such as a full pharmacy and fuel station and a free store pickup service providing an easy way to shop millions of products on Walmart.com. The new store will employ up to 95 full- and part-time associates.

“We are excited about bringing the first Walmart Neighborhood Market to the St. Cloud community,” said store manager Julie Ferreira. “Customers can look forward to conveniently finding their everyday products at Walmart’s everyday low prices.”

Fresh, Affordable Produce, Meat and Groceries

The store offers fresh produce and meat, pantry staples and a full line of groceries from leading brands.

In addition to organics and nutritious food choices, customers will also find a full-service deli and in-store gourmet bakery case offering custom cakes and fresh baked breads. Customers will also be able to find an extensive selection of gluten-free products and take-and-bake pizza.

Full Service Pharmacy

The Neighborhood Market includes a pharmacy with a full range of products, immunizations and services and Walmart pharmacists ready to assist customers with product and prescription questions. St. Cloud residents can easily transfer prescriptions and order refills on the go with the Walmart mobile app. A drive thru pharmacy window makes prescription drop off and pick up quick and easy.

Millions of Items with Seamless Digital and In-Store Shopping

The store is approximately 41,000 square feet and offers a wide assortment of products to meet the needs of St. Cloud residents. Customers will find health and beauty aids, pet products and cleaning supplies. Shopping is more convenient than ever as St. Cloud residents can shop seven million items on Walmart.com, many of which can be shipped for free to any Walmart store through Walmart Pickup.

The Walmart mobile app for iPhone and Android makes shopping easier than ever. Customers can refill prescription medications, create shopping lists, search the location of items in their store, check weekly ads and prices, save eReceipts and shop Walmart.com through the app.

Job Opportunities at Walmart

The store will employ up to 95 associates for full- and part-time positions within the store. Applicants interested in careers at Walmart can apply at a store’s hiring kiosk or online at Walmartcareers.com. Ferreira began her Walmart career in 2002 as an hourly deli associate in Boynton Beach.  

“The addition of this Walmart Neighborhood Market is imperative to the success of our future plans for our wonderful city of St. Cloud,” said St. Cloud Mayor Rebecca Borders. “Economically, this is an important step as almost 100 full- and part-time jobs were added within our community. This will not only supplement our revenues to continue funding our excellent services, but it also offers a great, diversified shopping choice for our residents and visitors. We are very excited to welcome another Walmart store to our great city!”

Starting in 2015, Walmart began making a $2.7 billion investment over a two year period in higher wages, more scheduling choices and further training for its associates. As part of increased wages across the company, the average full time hourly associate now makes $13.51 an hour in Florida. More than 75 percent of store management teams started as hourly associates. In 2014, 160,000 associates were promoted, and 40 percent of those promotions went to associates within the first year of their employment. The new investment is designed to help make Walmart not only a better place to shop but a better place to work.

Community Giving

The grand-opening celebration includes presentations of $8,000 in grants from Walmart and the Walmart Foundation to local community groups.  The new store will also continue a commitment by Walmart and the Walmart Foundation to fight hunger in St. Cloud and across the U.S. Walmart and the Walmart Foundation recently exceeded a $2 billion goal to fight hunger one year ahead of schedule and have donated more than 1.5 billion pounds of food to those in need across the country.

Two Celebration Events: Grand Opening and A Big Family Welcome

Local associates will provide a special welcome to members of St. Cloud at two public events. Store associates will host a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony on grand opening day, April 13, at 7:30 a.m. The following Saturday, April 16, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sunday, April 17, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. local residents are invited to A Big Family Welcome celebration. This will give customers a chance to meet Ferreira and enjoy fun family activities and free food samples while supplies last.