Image Courtesy of Walmart
Walmart this April plans to test a “new kind of rapid remodel process” at several Walmart Neighborhood Markets designed to deliver quicker results and less customer disruptions.
The primary change: Instead of stretching a remodel over several months covering different sections of each store, the main sales floor will be closed to complete the remodel within four weeks. Pharmacies and fuel stations will remain open.
Walmart said, “We know that shopping around closed construction areas or searching for relocated items can be frustrating for our customers. While we try to minimize that friction with every remodel, these four-week temporary closures aim at going one step further. We want to alleviate as much customer disruption as possible and deliver a better store experience, faster.”
The stores undergoing a fast-track remodel were chosen in part because other Walmart locations are nearby, enabling customers to have an alternative if they have to visit a location. Customers can also use the Walmart app or Walmart.com to place pickup orders at the neighboring stores, or select home delivery to have orders arrive as soon as 30 minutes.
Sales Associates To Work With Remodel Teams, Walmart Says
Another unique aspect: During rapid remodels, store associates will work alongside the remodel teams, setting up new fixtures, organizing products, and preparing the store for reopening. Walmart said, “Our store associates are at the heart of everything we do, and they are experts in what our customers want and need.”
The remodels will include the addition of digital shelf labels (DSLs), with Walmart recently announcing plans to roll out DSLs to all Walmart U.S. locations within the next year. Other renovations include enhanced pickup and delivery areas to support growing demand for digital orders, upgrades to checkout areas designed to reduce wait times, as well as expanded aisles and reconfigured layouts to improve navigation.
Walmart said in a statement, “Sam Walton always believed in ‘swimming upstream,’ challenging the traditional way of doing things to find a better path for the customer. That’s exactly what we’re doing with our latest round of Walmart Neighborhood Market store remodels.”
Asa Carlton, which specializes in retail and restaurant renovations, in a blog entry noted that temporary closures during remodels can lead to lost sales and frustrated customers -- but keeping stores operations active “requires precision planning” to minimize disruption.
The firm wrote, “A strong retail remodel contractor structures work in carefully managed phases, often completing construction during off-hours, overnight shifts, or short, strategically timed closures. Temporary walls, dust barriers, and rerouted traffic patterns protect the customer experience while preserving store safety. The goal is to make the construction footprint as ‘invisible’ as possible, allowing staff to operate efficiently and customers to continue shopping without obstruction.”