Your New Porterville Walmart Store at Riverwalk
Walmart Goods and Services
Walmart has plans to build a new store in the Riverwalk Marketplace to better serve the local community. The store will carry the same everyday household items you expect with the added convenience of a full-service grocery department that includes fresh and locally-grown fruits and vegetables, a bakery and deli as well as new products and merchandise such as an expanded and interactive electronics department and a drive-thru pharmacy. The new store will also feature an outdoor garden center.
Location and Design
The new store will be located on the southeast corner of Indiana Street and Springville Drive in the Riverwalk Marketplace. The new store will be approximately 161,602 square feet including an approximately 5,762 square-foot outdoor garden center.
The exterior of the store will be designed in a contemporary style with earth-tone colors to blend into its surroundings while complimenting the existing retailers, shopping center and neighborhood. Landscaping will be designed to further enhance the store’s appearance, using covered entrances and tree-shaded planters with seating to provide guests a welcoming environment when entering the store or simply waiting for a ride.
Career Opportunities for Local Residents
The new Walmart at Riverwalk will create up to 300 new jobs in the city of Porterville. Walmart is committed to a diverse and multicultural workforce and our associates reflect the diversity of the communities we serve. Walmart is also committed to promoting from within, demonstrated by the fact that nearly 75% of Walmart’s U.S. store management team started in hourly positions.
As of October 31, 2011, the average hourly wage for full-time associates in California is $12.69 per hour. Walmart is proud to offer affordable health and dental benefits to eligible associates. Additionally, associates are eligible for 401(k) plans and store performance based bonuses, discounts on general merchandise for store associates, an Associate Stock Purchase Program and company-paid life insurance. Additionally, eligible associates receive an annual incentive based on the company performance.
Funds for the City
Walmart stores are often a leading source of sales tax revenue for local government, funding important public services that are essential to protecting a community’s way of life, such as public safety, schools, roads, and other vital infrastructure needs. According to the city of Porterville, the proposed new Walmart at Riverwalk is expected to generate up to $500,000 in annual sales tax revenue.
Community Benefits
Walmart is proud to support the local charitable causes that are important to our customers and associates in their own neighborhoods. Last year, the Walmart Foundation along with the Walmart distribution center and store in Porterville contributed more than $285,000 in cash and in-kind funds raised by associates and customers to local causes and charities within the city of Porterville. Some of those organizations include United Way of Tulare County, Salvation Army of Porterville, Boys and Girls Club of the Sequoias, and Comision Honor Mexicana Americana.
Walmart also purchased over $235 million of merchandise and services from 89 different suppliers in Tulare County in FY2008. As a result of Walmart’s ongoing relationship with these local suppliers, Walmart supports 4,003 supplier jobs in the county of Tulare.*
*Supplier figures provided by Dun & Bradstreet
Sustainability Features
Walmart is a leader in the industry when it comes to sustainable construction practices. We include some of the most innovative environmental practices as standard features. Some features that will be employed in the new Porterville store will include:
- Energy effecient lighting, skylights and daylight and nighttime-dimming sensors.
- Water conserving technology and practices.
- Heat reclamation from refrigeration equipment.
- Utilizing recycled building materials.
Walmart has also eliminated more than 80 percent of the waste that would go to landfills from its operations in California, a rate that far exceeds the national average where EPA estimates only 45% of waste is diverted from land lls. The company’s comprehensive waste reduction program that produced these results is now being implemented across Walmart’s 4,400 stores, Sam’s Club locations and distribution centers in the U.S., moving it closer to its global goal of creating zero waste.
