Wal-Mart Opens First Experimental Supercenter.

Wal-Mart announced the opening of a new supercenter in McKinney, Texas, which will also serve as an experimental store.

The new supercenter, offering a full line of groceries, bakery goods, deli foods, meat and dairy products, fresh produce, a Tire Lube and Express and a vision center just to name a few services, will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The supercenter will employ about 450 people, including 178 new jobs from the relocation. (See fact sheet for additional details.) Not only will the new supercenter provide quality products and every day low prices, the new experimental store could profoundly change the way the retail industry designs, constructs, and manages facilities as it relates to the environment.

“The 450 associates here at McKinney are excited that they have such a unique store and the opportunity to share with our customers everyday how Wal-Mart is learning new ways to become a better steward of the environment,” said Brent Allen, store manager.

“We see it as a next step in evaluating the impact we leave on the environment as we look toward smart growth and sustainability in the building of our new stores,” said Mike Duke, executive vice president and chief executive officer of Wal-Mart Stores – USA. “This store will contain many of the best resource conservation and sustainable design technologies currently available to minimize the use of energy and natural resources.”

The McKinney store will experiment with materials, technology, and processes, which include:

* Reducing the amounts of energy and natural resources required to operate and maintain the stores
* Reducing the amount of raw materials needed to construct the facility.
* Substituting, when appropriate the amount of renewable materials used to construct and maintain the facility.

“We want to make the best use of renewable and alternate sources like wind and solar energy to generate electricity to supplement the power needs of the store,” said Don Moseley, PE, Wal-Mart’s experimental projects manager. “The store at McKinney will draw its energy first from on-site resources and systems, and then from conventional utility sources as a secondary service. For example, the waste cooking oil which had been used to fry chicken will be recycled by mixing it with used automotive oil from the Tire and Lube Express to serve as fuel to heat the building.”