Guess Who is Becoming a Better Steward of the Environment?
B e t a
Wal-Mart is proud to announce the opening of a new Supercenter 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."
Wal-Mart has contracted with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to
provide testing and analysis on store systems and materials, based on
national scientific measurements and standards, for a period of three years.
Sharing the results of the store's experiments with the rest of the
retail and development industry could turn low-volume, rare technologies
into industry standards. Wal-Mart hopes to learn new environmental
conservation best management practices and benchmarks that will serve as
future design standards in the retail industry when it comes to land
development and building construction. (See press kit for details.)
"As the world's largest retailer, we are excited that we can lead the
way in promoting the use of sustainable building and business practices
in retail and the real estate development process," said Duke. "We will
share our experiences with the industry, the general public and
government agencies, and will apply best environmental practices to
future Wal-Mart facilities."
We are always striving to understand and impact, in a positive way, the
global footprint Wal-Mart has on the environment. Wal-Mart is the only
company in America that has committed to offset its footprint -- past,
present and future -- for land conservation. Wal-Mart is preserving an
acre of wildlife habitat for every developed acre of our footprint.
Additionally, Wal-Mart has a special program in place to help find new
uses for every store it leaves. Last year, Wal-Mart recycled 2.8 million
tons of cardboard, 9,416 tons of plastic, 262 million aluminum cans,
glass containers and plastic bottles and 49 million disposable cameras.
FACT SHEET Store fast facts * New location: 2041 Red Bud Blvd.,
McKinney, Texas * Originally opened in 1978 at 1670 West University. *
206,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter, gaining an additional 86,000
square feet * Store opening Wednesday, July 20, immediately following
8:30 a.m. grand opening ceremony * Store manager: Brent Allen. Allen
started his career at Wal-Mart as an hourly associate 14 years ago in
Plano. Store features * Full line of groceries, bakery goods, deli
foods, frozen foods, meat and dairy products and fresh produce, a Tire &
Lube Express, a vision center, a portrait studio, a pharmacy, a one-hour
photo lab, a family fun center, a branch of Woodforest National Bank, a
Blimpie sandwich shop, a Smart Style hair salon, a Da Vi nail salon and
a Wal-Mart Connection Center for cellular phone sales. * Open 24 hours a
day, seven days a week * 17 full-service, six express and eight self
check-out lanes Employment * Total employment is 450, including 178 new
jobs created by the relocation * Fifty-two associates at this store have
worked with Wal-Mart more than 10 years. * Majority of jobs are
full-time * As of October 2004, the average wage at Wal-Mart for
full-time hourly associates in the Dallas area was $10.51 per hour. *
Wal-Mart benefits -- available to full- and part-time associates --
include healthcare insurance with no lifetime maximum. Associate
premiums begin at less than $40 per month for an individual and less
than $155 per month for a family, no matter how large. Wal-Mart also
offers a 401(k) plan and profit sharing contributions, whether an
associate contributes or not, store discount cards, performance-based
bonuses, discounted stock purchase program and life insurance. For more
information * Store manager: Brent Allen, 972-542-9585. * Official
spokesperson: Gus Whitcomb, Wal-Mart corporate communications (local
contact), 479-204-8295, august....@wal-mart.com * Official
spokesperson, Tara Stewart, Wal-Mart corporate communications:
479-273-4314, option 3, tara.s...@wal-mart.com * Wal-Mart information
online: http://www.walmartfacts.com/ ; merchandise sales:
http://www.walmart.com/ . FACT SHEET Community Giving
Wal-Mart's community giving is based on the philosophy of operating
globally and giving back locally. In our experience, we can make the
greatest impact on communities by supporting issues and causes that are
important to our customers and associates in their own neighborhoods.
Store manager, Brent Allen and his team of 450 associates are proud to
announce the following grants to be given to their neighbors on July
20th totaling $18,250.
Heard Natural Science Museum $ 6,000.00 Anna High School-Athletic
Booster Club $ 1,000.00 McKinney Education Foundation $ 1,000.00 Collin
County Historical Society $ 1,000.00 City of McKinney Police Department
$ 750.00 Collin County Committee on Aging $ 1,500.00 Boys and Girls Club
of Collin County $ 2,000.00 City of McKinney Police Department $
1,500.00 City of McKinney Fire Department $ 500.00 Webb Elementary
School $ 1,000.00 Finch Elementary School $ 1,000.00 United Way $ 1,000.00
In 2004, Wal-Mart Stores and SAM'S CLUB gave $16,435,558 to local causes
and organizations in the communities they serve in the state of Texas.
In addition, many charities and organizations received in-kind donations
and additional funds raised through stores, CLUBS and distribution
centers in the amount of $9,358,344, for a grand total of $25,793,902
contributed through Wal-Mart's presence across the state.
The store will also have a budget to give donations away throughout the
year. Organizations interested in receiving funding can contact the
store for details.
Visit http://www.walmartfoundation.org/ for more information about our
giving programs. Photo: NewsCom:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010831/WALMARTLOGOAP Archive:
http://photoarchive.ap.org/PRN Photo Desk,
phot...@prnewswire.comWal-Mart Stores, Inc.
James Chamblee
> Wal-Mart Opens First Experimental Supercenter
>
> Wal-Mart is proud to announce the opening of a new Supercenter which
> will also serve as an experimental store.
Exxon-Mobil also makes ads which tout their environmental progress; yet they
have never paid a nickel of the money they owe for the Exxon Valdez
devastation in Alaska.
When the oil giants got a permit to transport Alaska crude, they promised to
keep a clean-up ship on duty at all times to quickly control spills. This
really means two ships, so that one can go offline for maintenance & repair.
At the time of the Exxon Valdez spill, the solitary existing clean-up ship
was in drydock in Seattle.