Walmart Canada spending $175M to renovate stores across country
By The Canadian Press
Construction Financing
The renovations will employ about 2,500 construction workers. PHOTO: Walmart Canada
MISSISSAUGA, Ont.—Walmart Canada says it will spend $175 million to help upgrade its stores across the country and improve the integration between its e-commerce business and physical locations.
The company plans to renovate 23 stores by February 2019 in a move that it says will create more than 2,500 construction jobs.
In addition to updating the physical appearance of the stores, Walmart plans to make changes to help its online shopping business such as dedicated parking spaces for online grocery pickup and new areas in stores devoted to online orders.
The store upgrades come as Walmart has been working to improve its e-commerce operations including its online grocery shopping business. The company has started offering one-hour grocery delivery in parts of Toronto and in Winnipeg in a partnership with Instacart. It has also been expanding its grocery pickup service.
In July the company announced another $175 million spend on a new warehouse in Surrey, B.C. The retailer said construction on the new fulfullment centre will start in 2021 and employ about 300 workers over the 14- to 18-month construction period.
Walmart has more than 400 stores across the country.
