West Bypass chosen for Wal-Mart's fourth Neighborhood Market

In 2012, four Walmart Neighborhood Market locations are expected to open in Springfield, according to a company spokesperson.

On Nov. 17, Bentonville, Ark.-based megaretailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. submitted its plans to build a Neighborhood Market at the southwest corner of West Bypass Road and West Mt. Vernon Street, according to Chris Straw, director of Building Development Services. It is the fourth time in the last six months the company has submitted plans to the city to build the roughly 40,000-square-foot grocery stores. According to Wal-Mart spokesman Dan Morales, all four stores should open by the end of 2012.

Morales said the stores are built with convenience in mind and feature wide aisles, ample parking, quick check-outs and a pharmacy drive-through.

“The new stores will each carry a full line of groceries, including fresh produce, frozen foods, meat and dairy products, and organic items. In-store delis will offer hot rotisserie chicken and freshly prepared foods,” Morales said in an e-mail, adding that the sites will also have bakeries.

He added that the four stores together would bring roughly 360 jobs to the Springfield area.

City Councilman Scott Bailes has said on record that as many as six new Walmart stores could be coming to Springfield. Morales would not confirm or deny that other stores were being planned for the market.

“Four is what we have,” Morales said.

On Springfield Business Journal’s list of the area’s largest engineering firms published in the Sept. 5 issue, Anderson Engineering Inc. names a Walmart Neighborhood Market on East Sunshine as a notable project. Bailes, who represents Zone 4 in the southeast section of the city for council, said in July he believed Wal-Mart was planning a store at the corner of East Sunshine and South Blackman Road. Anderson Engineering CEO Steven Brady did not return a call for comment by deadline.

Currently, Wal-Mart has four Supercenters in town and two Sam’s Club locations. Neighborhood Markets are smaller, grocery-focused versions of the all-in-one Supercenter model.

The other three Neighborhood Markets would be located at 3150 W. Republic Road, 1320 S. Glenstone Ave. and 545 W. El Camino Alto Drive.

Construction, which is underway at the West Republic Road and South Glenstone Avenue locations, should be complete by late spring/early summer and early summer, respectively, Morales said. The El Camino Alto Drive store is expected to have its grand opening by early fall, and the store at 3536 W. Mt. Vernon should be up and running by late fall.

Each of the projects has an estimated cost of construction of $1.6 million, according to city records.[[In-content Ad]]