New Walmart Coming Soon
By: Gina Onori
On the corner of US 441 and Palmetto, a new Walmart is being constructed. However, limited information has been provided to us and we do not know specific details of this opening.
The site manager provided us with scant facts, revealing that the building was a Walmart previously and that they are building a new Walmart, yet that was all the information he could tell us at this time.
Yet, a previously published Sun-Sentinel article did reveal that this location was going to be reopening as a Walmart supercenter.
“The company hasn’t given up on suburban locations,” wrote Larry Barszewsi in June 2013. “West of Boca Raton a Walmart on Palmetto Park Road at U.S. 441 closed five years ago when a new supercenter opened a few miles away at Hillsboro Boulevard and 441. But the west Boca store will reopen next year as a supercenter.”
The project description on the sign posted on the site states that the store number is 3858-00 and it is a supercenter-expansion. The notice also describes that the building is 122,353 square feet with 14 acres of Walmart property and 14 acres of disturbed property. Yet, this cannot be confirmed by officials.
According to property appraiser records, the land is owned by Walmart and they are paying over $100K a year in property taxes. The total market value is $6.3 million.
Regardless of if this will be a neighborhood or supercenter, we do know that there will be a Walmart opening in this location, and this is good news for the community. With exceedingly low prices, this is economically beneficial for our city as a whole. A 2005 story in The Washington Post reported that “Wal-Mart’s discounting on food alone boosts the welfare of American shoppers by at least $50 billion per year.”
Furthermore, this store will provide more jobs for people who are currently out of work. “Walmart employs more than 1.3 million associates worldwide,” stated a recent greenwhich article, “ with more than 3,200 facilities in the United States.”
23-year-old Boca Resident Shana Malamphy says that if this is going to be a Super Walmart this is great news for our neighborhood because it is more time efficient for everybody.
“Not only can you buy groceries at Super Walmart’s,” says Malamphy, “But you can purchase toys, house wear, and even get your nails done!”
22-year-old Eric Speakman is also enthusiastic about the up and coming store.
“I am excited regardless if it is a Neighborhood or a Super Walmart,” says Speakman. “A lot of Walmart’s are in Delray or Deerfield, we could really use one in Boca.”
With holiday season just around the corner, we could all benefit from low prices, time organization and more money in our pockets. We will keep you posted with more news.
