PORT ANGELES — After years of preparation and months of construction, the new Walmart Supercenter will open its doors to customers Wednesday.
Fanfare celebrating the opening of the $14 million, 181,000-square-foot Walmart at 3471 E. Kolonels Way east of Port Angeles will begin at 7:30 a.m., with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and band music.
The Port Angeles High School marching band and dance team will perform, and the high school Reserve Officers’ Training Corps will present the colors, said organizers.
Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce ambassadors will attend, as well as such city dignitaries as Deputy Mayor Don Perry, City Manager Kent Myers and council members Cherie Kidd, Patrick Downie and Brooke Nelson, said Vanessa Fuller, director of events at the chamber.
The regional center is 52,000 square feet larger than the Walmart at 3500 E. U.S. Highway 101 that it replaces.
The smaller Walmart will close Tuesday night.
Once the new store opens Wednesday morning, it will operate 24 hours per day, seven days a week.
Also on Wednesday, Clallam Transit’s Port Angeles-to-Sequim commuter — the No. 30 bus — will be rerouted to the new Walmart store, while bus service will stop at the older location.
New bus stops will be located on both sides of U.S. Highway 101 at Kolonels Way.
Groceries sold
Most noticeably different in the new store is the addition of a supermarket, said Becky McDonald, store manager.
The store will offer a deli, produce, a bakery and dry groceries, she said.
Shelves that are shorter than in the older store have been installed. McDonald said those should make it easier to spot items.
“The layout of the store is easy to navigate, which will save our customers time as they shop for everyday necessities,” McDonald said.
“By grouping the products that our customers most often purchase, including health and beauty and pet supplies, we are making one-stop shopping even easier.”
She said the layout of the store won’t resemble others on the North Olympic Peninsula but will be similar to one in Mount Vernon, with the pharmacy next to the grocery area.
The new store will employ about 300 people, an increase of about 85 over the current store, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said in a statement.
About 300 employees
“More than 61 of the store’s associates have worked for Walmart for more than 10 years, including 18 associates who have worked at the store since its original opening,” the statement said.
The new building was constructed to be more energy-efficient than the older building, Wal-Mart said, using skylights and natural light to cut energy needs during the day and energy-efficient light bulbs throughout the building.
Other “green” elements include recycled materials in the cement, low-flow toilets and faucets, and a recycling program, Wal-Mart said.
Boise, Idaho-based Engineered Structures Inc. is the general contractor for the project.
Construction of the regional center, which was built on the 19.8-acre site of a Kmart that closed in early 1998, began last December.
Built in 1996, the older Port Angeles Walmart building and its lot were assessed at $7.46 million last year. The building is now on the market.
The city of Port Angeles, which is providing sewer service to the new store, and Clallam County have agreed to split any increase in sales tax revenue from the new Walmart store.
The city has agreed not to annex the land along the U.S. 101 corridor between the existing city limit at DelGuzzi Drive and Masters Road — which borders the Walmart property about 2 miles east — until after 2015.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
