Business & Tech

First Walmart Neighborhood Market in Riverside County to Debut in Palm Desert

Regular store hours will be 6 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week, according to Walmart.

The first Walmart Neighborhood Market in Riverside County is scheduled to open Wednesday morning in Palm Desert.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled at 7:30 a.m. Jan 15 and the new store at 72314 Highway 111 is scheduled to open for business at 8 a.m., according to Walmart representatives.

The business will employ 65 full-time and part-time associates, according to Walmart. Regular store hours will be 6 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week.

Here's more from a Walmart Neighborhood Market release:

The store, located near the intersection of Fred Waring Drive and Highway 111, will fill a retail space that has been vacant for two years and provide local customers with a new, convenient option for their grocery shopping needs, including fresh produce and pharmacy services.

"The new Walmart Neighborhood Market will be another valued member of the Coachella Valley’s business community," said Tom Flavin of Coachella Valley Economic Partnership. "Walmart has long been an important part of the Valley's economy. A new store will create even more opportunity by attracting additional businesses, creating jobs, bringing more tax revenues and boosting our local economy."

The first Walmart Neighborhood Market opened in 1998, and today there are approximately 300 Walmart Neighborhood Market stores nationwide. The Neighborhood Market format offers a quick and pleasant shopping experience, with a full-grocery department, including organic and natural selections. The store features prepared food options, fresh baked breads, a self-serve deli and a bakery.

The pharmacy offers a full range of products and services to help customers save money on the products they need to live healthier. Pharmacy team members can answer product and prescription questions and customers can ask about health and wellness solutions. The store will offer Walmart's $4 Prescription Program, through which customers can choose from hundreds of generic drugs and over-the-counter medications for $4 for a 30-day supply or $10 for a 90-day supply. Started in 2006, the program has saved U.S. customers more than $4.8 billion on medications.

"I am pleased that Walmart chose Palm Desert as the site of the first Walmart Neighborhood Market in Riverside County, and many of our residents are looking forward to the store’s opening and the employment opportunities it brings to the community," said Palm Desert Mayor Van Tanner. "Walmart has been a good corporate citizen to many of our civic and nonprofit organizations, and I'm confident that this new store will continue to be a good community partner."

The new store employs about 65 full- and part-time associates. Walmart provides competitive wages, along with a high quality benefits program for eligible full- and part-time associates. For example, the company provides a variety of affordable health and well-being benefits, including health care coverage with no lifetime maximum. Walmart also offers matching 401(k) contributions of up to 6 percent, discounts on general merchandise, an Associate Stock Purchase Program and company-paid life insurance. Additionally, associates are eligible to receive a quarterly incentive based on store performance.

Store manager Richard Beserra began his Walmart career in 2002 and most recently worked at the La Quinta Walmart.

"I am proud to be opening Walmart's first Neighborhood Market in Riverside County," said Beserra. "We look forward to serving customers in Palm Desert, providing them with a great shopping experience and helping save them money so they can live better."

Walmart is committed to serving the community through supporting local charitable causes that are important to the communities it serves. In FYE 2013, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation contributed more than $3.5 million to charitable and civic organizations in the Inland Empire like Family Services of the Desert, Girlfriend Factor and FIND Food Bank.

In addition, the grand-opening celebration will include presentations of $32,000 in grants from Walmart to local community groups. A $25,000 grant will be presented to Desert Arc to help the organization provide employment training for persons with developmental disabilities. Other grant recipients include The Cove Community Association, Desert Best Friend's Closet, Family YMCA of the Desert, Palm Desert Area Chamber of Commerce and Palm Desert High School Foundation.

"Walmart has shown itself to be a good community partner to the Coachella community through its extensive support of nonprofits like Desert Arc," said Mitch Blumberg, Deputy Executive Director of Desert Arc. "We value our partnership with Walmart and appreciate Walmart’s commitment to supporting a high quality, independent life for people with developmental disabilities."

In addition to the grants given as part of the grand opening, the new store will further Walmart’s pledge to fight hunger in America. As part of Walmart's and the Walmart Foundation’s $2 billion commitment to fight hunger through 2015, Walmart stores in California donated approximately 10.2 million pounds of food, in FYE 2013, or the equivalent of 8.5 million meals. Additionally, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation gave more than $26.3 million in California, and Walmart stores donated more than 1.3 million pounds of food in the Inland Empire to help relieve hunger locally. For more information on Walmart's fight against hunger, visit http://foundation.walmart.com/our-focus/hunger.

Walmart invites Palm Desert shoppers to share their in-store experience on Facebook and Twitter by using #MyNewWalmart. Visit the My Local Walmart Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/walmart3026. Fans of the local page can receive information about rollbacks, in-store events, meal solutions and more.
For more info about Walmart visit www.walmart.com and  www.corporate.walmart.com.


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