Walmart Unveils New Home Office Plans
Walmart Inc. has taken the wraps off its plans for a new headquarters campus in its hometown of Bentonville, Ark.
According to Dan Bartlett, the mega-retailer’s EVP, corporate affairs, the concept took some time to develop.
“We’ve spent the past couple of years imagining what Walmart’s ‘dream home’ might look like,” Bartlett wrote in a blog post revealing the company’s plans. “We’ve thought a lot about how we want to work together as our company grows and changes. With our associates and the community in mind, we’ve landed on a design that reflects our values, honors our history and enables our potential.”
The result is a space that will offer “ample natural light, expanded food offerings, convenient parking, fitness options and a child care facility,” he wrote, noting that the company would also require “a modern, connected campus [that would’ accelerate Walmart’s digital transformation and help attract the next generation of talent with state-of-the-art technology and contemporary conveniences.”
Sustainability features of the campus will include solar panels on top of parking decks, energy-efficient lighting and HVAC systems, and regionally sourced building materials, in addition to the presence of “thousands of trees, shrubs and grasses to provide habitat for wildlife, shade paths and bike trails, and reconnect associates with nature,” as Bartlett noted.
He also stressed the importance of the company’s Arkansas roots, and how the new home office represented a substantial investment in its community.
Demolition, infrastructure and utility construction on the project is slated to kick off this summer, while over the next 18 to 24 months, the support and office buildings will be designed, and construction will start. Walmart aims to open the campus in phases between 2020 and 2024.
Walmart operates more than 11,300 stores under 58 banners in 27 countries, and ecommerce websites, employing more than 2.2 million associates worldwide. The company is No. 1 on Progressive Grocer's 2019 Super 50 list of the top grocers in the United States.
