Nation's Largest Wal-Mart In The Works

(AP)  Upstate New York will soon be home to the nation's largest Wal-Mart store.

Workers are combining a standard-sized Wal-Mart store with space left vacant by a failed Sam's Club warehouse outlet on the outskirts of Albany to create a 260,000-square-foot, two-story "supercenter" selling department store merchandise as well as groceries, liquor and automotive and other services.

That's more than 25 percent bigger than the average Wal-Mart supercenter, which typically measures around 205,000 square feet, said Phil Serghini, a Wal-Mart spokesman in New York.

Real estate planners at the Bentonville, Ark.-based company — the world's largest retailer with more than 4,100 stores in the United States and 3,100 more overseas — never set out to build their biggest store in New York's Capital Region. In fact, the larger stores tend to be built in rural areas, Serghini said.

In the 1990s, Wal-Mart co-located a Sam's Club — its members only warehouse store — with a Wal-Mart department store in a dual-level shopping center, with the Sam's Club on the lower floor.

The company closed the Sam's Club in 2006 because of low membership and decided to use that space to turn the department store into a supercenter.

"It's the largest one really only because of the situation involving the former Sam's Club," Serghini said. "But it is unique, and the customers are going to be very pleased with the layout."

The company had kept the project relatively quiet, not formally announcing it to the news media or to customers. Construction started about a year ago, but the transformation only recently became visible when workers opened up the newly renovated bottom floor and installed escalators.

"I didn't even realize anything was happening over here until I came back from winter break and all of a sudden there was a big hole in the floor," said Susannah Coon, a student at a nearby university who has shopped there since she started classes three years ago.

Denise Clow, who lives in suburban Albany and said she has shopped at the store since it opened, was particularly impressed by the escalators, which move both people and shopping carts. A hook grabs the bottom of the cart, which is then pulled along a track in the center of the escalator alongside the shopper riding the moving stairs.

"That's so cool," she said.

Aside from the newfangled escalators and wider aisles, the nation's biggest Wal-Mart won't be all that different from the rest. It will have the same kind of merchandise and services that are available at other supercenters, Serghini said.

The store plans to celebrate its grand opening in May.

[AshleyShell343]

The shopping cart escalators are old news in South Korea, Australia, and probably other countries as well.

[tucano2]

Sure there is a positive thing each of us can do. Reduce or eliminate purchases of "Made in China" products AND services. Wreck China''s economy, create chaos in China''s being able to fund its militaristic stranglehold on the region, thereby releasing Tibet also from China''s chokehold. The results of such individual action which you can begin today without firing a shot will take years to topple the regime in China...but patience, persistence, and dogged stubborness yields better results than any ''flash in the pan'' short-term outburst. The Chinese know such attributes are thought of as un-American, but then they have been dead wrong before about Americans.

[olebd]

I hate to think how much energy this place is going to use up to operate 24/7.

[timdgrim]

Soon, Walmart will be selling the new Chinese cars,the new Walmart drive thru Chinese restaurant "Wal-Rice" will be in the parking lot, followed by Walmart''s own bank, Wal-Bucks....then their own country, China States of Walmart!! Help us!!!!

[inventagod]

As the community ages, Wal-Mart will have to run busses thru their stores - old folks just cannot walk that far...

[tomanyt]

Great...now you can purchase even more "Made in China" ***. What happened to Wal-Mart''s "Made In America" campaign????

[concorde5]

Wal-Mart used to be the "Made in America" store back in the 80''s and early 90''s. Then they did a complete 180 and started forcing manufacturers overseas with heavy-handed tactics. That gave Wal-Mart a temporary price advantage. Now that all the manufacturers are overseas, every store gets the same prices Wal-Mart gets. So I don''t shop at Wal-Mart much anymore. I get the same or cheaper prices at other stores now. And if I have to pay a little more at a different store, it''s worth it because I don''t have the hassle of shopping at a big mega store like Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart has become anti-american. I can''t support them anymore. They actually went to court to support the government of China over an american Manufacturer who filed a law suit against China for violating trade agreements. Wal-Mart helped china win. The american company shut down shortly after and their employees were offered jobs at a new Wal-Mart across the street for minimum wage.

Just say no to wal-mart.

[greeneyes222]

We don''t shop WalMart, so I fail to see what the big deal is. Just more cheap junk in one place, that''s all.

[bevc4]

Wallmart does it again. Brings to the public good prices for quality items. Long may they servive. When will the public stop listening to the overpriced union people that whine about Wallmark!

[omega39-2009]

And lastly, they make money mainly through selling cheap items made in countries with cheap labor.

Posted by incog-nito

And many companies offer a scaled down version of their product (Levi Jeans comes to mind) for Walmart. What used to be called Chinese counterfeits have been legitimized by Walmart.