Ponderay Wal-Mart unveils new store

PONDERAY — Wal-Mart is celebrating its grand re-opening this week, giving local shoppers a glimpse of the company’s next generation of store design and customer experience.

The results of a three-month remodeling project will be unveiled at the Ponderay Wal-Mart on Wednesday during a grand re-opening ceremony at 7:30 a.m. Among the many improvements are a new layout, wider aisles, low-profile shelving, bright interior paint scheme, enhanced lighting and easy-to-read signage to make the shopping experience more convenient for customers than ever before.

“We listened to our customers and have redesigned the store to make shopping at Walmart even easier,” said store manager Will Van Corbach.

The remodeled Ponderay store features a more open shopping environment with wider aisles that contain no product displays. Wal-Mart also aligned the departments that customers shop most frequently, making it quicker to purchase everyday items.

“The new layout is easier to navigate, which will save our customers time as they shop for necessities,” said Van Corbach.

A bright interior paint scheme and enhanced lighting creates a more inviting shopping experience and helps define the store’s merchandise areas. Low-profile shelving creates an improved sightline and directional signage helps customers find the products they need.

The remodel also brings Wal-Mart customers an expanded electronics department featuring a wide selection of the latest consumer electronics and home entertainment. The new design includes a more hands-on experience for customers with interactive displays for hi-definition Blu-ray, video gaming and portable electronics. The interactive experience enables shoppers to test new technology including laptops, cameras, phones and GPS units before purchase.

The store also features an expanded dairy selection and a frozen cake freezer in the bakery.

A new department called “celebration station” has been added and will feature party supplies, greeting cards, balloons and helium tanks, cake supplies and gift wrap.