Walmart creating 150 new stores, redesigning hundreds more

The largest private employer in the U.S. is looking to expand its footprint to reach even more customers. 

Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner announced Wednesday that the Arkansas-based company is looking to build 150 modernized stores over the next five years, its latest effort to reinforce its role as a community pillar. Of the 150, some will convert smaller stores into bigger ones.

It will mark the first time Walmart has opened a new store since November 2021, a spokesperson told FOX Business. 

New stores will be a mix of 182,000-square-foot Walmart Supercenters that employ about 300 and 38,000-square-foot Neighborhood Markets that employ up to 95.

Walmart will hire hundreds of new employees in the communities where the new stores will be located.

"These efforts represent millions of dollars in capital investment of labor, supplies and tax revenue, which benefit their respective communities," Furner said Wednesday in a blog post. "They’ll help us reach and serve even more customers." 

The global retail behemoth, by all accounts, already has immense reach. 

In the U.S., the company operates just over 4,600 stores and employs about 1.6 million associates. That does not include the 599 Sam's Club membership warehouses it also operates in the U.S. 

With its footprint, the company estimates there is a Walmart store within 10 miles of 90% of Americans. This latest push will expand that reach. 

To kick off the new year, two of Walmart's Neighborhood Markets are already slated to open later this spring in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, and Atlanta. 

It is also finalizing construction plans for 12 other new projects that are expected to start in 2024. It is also converting one of its smaller locations to a Walmart Supercenter. 

Walmart will also remodel 650 existing stores across the nation through February 2025.

The newly constructed and remodeled stores will boast the company's new store concept with improved layouts, bigger product selection and new technology that will help associates with customer support. 

The stores have refreshed signs, paint, shopping carts and a new checkout design. 

There are also interactive displays in certain areas of the stores and massive merchandise on display, so customers can get a better look at products.

Over the past two years, the company has invested $9 billion in upgrades to more than 1,400 stores nationwide. 

Walmart shares have advanced 5% so far this year, slightly ahead of the S&P 500's 3%.