Walmart Health Debuts in Chicago
Chicagoland has welcomed the Walmart Health concept with the opening of two centers alongside a pair of revamped supercenters at 4650 West North Avenue (Austin) and 8331 South Stewart Avenue. (Chatham). Both stores and health centers officially opened on Nov. 20.
“These last few months have been especially difficult for this great city, and it has done a remarkable job facing its challenges head-on,” noted Keith Wyche, Walmart VP, community engagement and support. “We are proud to have the opportunity to reopen these stores and health clinics and further demonstrate Walmart’s commitment to serve as the store of the community.”
State-of-the-art Walmart Health locations offer affordable and accessible health care by teaming with local health providers to deliver primary care, labs, x-ray and diagnostics, counseling, dental and hearing services in a single facility at transparent pricing, regardless of a patient’s insurance status. The retailer disclosed this past September that it would open the Chicago centers.
“Walmart is committed to making health care more affordable and accessible for customers in the communities we serve,” said Marcus Osborne, SVP of Walmart Health. “We are excited to bring Walmart Health into Chicago and offer members of the community a holistic wellness approach by additionally offering specialized community health resources, online education and in-center workshops to educate the community about preventative health and wellness. We think we can make an impactful difference and look forward to continuing to learn how best to deliver the integrated quality care customers want and deserve.”
As well as the two Chicago Walmart Health centers that just opened, the retailer already operates six centers in Georgia and Arkansas; plans to open seven in the Jacksonville, Florida, area next year; and has begun "conversations in the Orlando and Tampa markets" in the Sunshine State, according to Lori Flees, SVP and COO, Walmart U.S. health and wellness, in a Sept. 17 blog post.
The two latest Walmart Health centers are part of a recent company commitment to rebuild and reopen four Chicago-area supercenters with more services, including Walmart Academies for associate training and ongoing learning. The other supercenters slated to reopen are at 4626 West Diversey Avenue and 10900 South Doty Avenue.
The four remodels also include an improved produce department layout to better reflect customer shopping patterns, a new layout in grocery and housewares, enhanced self-checkout for customer convenience, updated apparel departments with new signage and fitting rooms and a larger adult beverages section with more variety. Further, shoppers can also take advantage of the company’s pickup, delivery, express delivery and touch-free Walmart Pay offerings.
“We can’t wait for Chicago customers to see our newly remodeled Supercenters,” said Patrice Gibson, store manager at the Chatham Supercenter. “We’re continuously investing in new ways to make shopping easier, and we look forward to those in our communities being able to take advantage of what our stores now have to offer.”
Along with the store upgrades, Walmart pledged that it will keep helping to protect associates and customers from the coronavirus through extensive safety measures implemented earlier this year. The stores are additionally donating more than $80,000 to local organizations.
Walmart operates 185 retail units and employs 54,086 associates in Illinois.
Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart operates more than 11,300 stores under 58 banners in 27 countries, and e-commerce websites, employing 2.2 million-plus associates worldwide. Walmart U.S. is No. 1 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America, while Walmart-owned Sam's Club ranks No. 9 on