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| - 3.5 Stars for the Newest Walmart in Vegas :
Finally, after nearly a decade, the newest Walmart Supercenter (abbreviated Walmart) has come to Las Vegas. In nearly a decade, the retail landscape has changed as drastically as the landscape along Blue Diamond Road. The biggest dramatic change is www.amazon.com. This is the very first Las Vegas Walmart to open in the www.amazon.com age. The following paragraph describes the newest changes at Walmart through a virtual tour starting at the gm entrance to the left and working to the back and food entrance to the left. Some of these changes have been incorporated into very recent remodels including the Serene Avenue Walmart and the Eastern at Warm Springs Neighborhood Market.
General Merchandise (GM) side:
Walking into the gm entrance, the first thing I noticed that there are zero vending machines. This is the first Walmart that I am aware of where you have to buy a Coke or Pepsi to go inside. They are a lot more $ than the 50 cents vending soda that every other Walmart sells in outside vending machines. When I walked inside there is a greeter. Immediately to the right at the corner of the front end is the customer service counter that is now called "services." By the time I passed the greeter, my eyes were drawn to the new floor pattern. In similar fashion to the Walmarts built nearly a decade ago there are giant cement tiles in lieu of the small white tiles. However, instead of the brown color they are blue. This goes along nicely with the black and white interior. Working my way towards garden center, I noticed the same heavy traffic spots in front of pharmacy and HBA found in the majority of Walmarts. Likewise, I noticed that disparate from every other Las Vegas Walmart, the vision center is contiguous to the pharmacy. As I walked further into the consumables area, I saw Walmart's latest innovation in fighting shoplifting. That is to lock up nearly everything in the cosmetic aisle in a row of glass doors manned by a cashier. This includes razors. Making it to the front left corner I set eyes on a garden center transformed into a Winter Wonderland of retail. Walking towards the back of the building, I prolonged the Winter Wonderland spirit in Toy Land. When I made my way to the back left corner and out of the Winter Wonderland, I sensed something was missing. It sure was! What is missing is the Tire & Lube Center. In my opinion that is a disservice because the Walmart Tire & Lube is a convenient place to get a car oil change, tires, or battery minus the hassle of upselling bogus repairs. According to an Automotive Assistant Manager that I know, Walmarts are going away from Tire & Lube centers. Walking along the back, the highlight is the electronics department. In the new and refurbished Walmarts the electronics departments are similar to Apple stores where customers can touch and play with the electronics.
Food side:
On the food side, the latest innovation is merchandising the majority of the refrigerated food in door cases. It used to be that primarily frozen foods was merchandise in door cases. Not anymore. Walmart has gone door case crazy where all dairy, beer, and the majority of Deli food is in a door case. However, keeping with tradition the dairy is to the back, the meat is to the side wall, and produce with Deli and Bakery are at the front. By the way, the produce department just like the rest of the store didn't seem overwhelming.
It isn't the food that is the first and last impression on the food side. It is the Pick Up Lounge. Walmart is battling www.amazon.com with www.walmart.com. Walmart's battleship is the Pick Up lounge. This marks a transition from pick up at the back. The pick up lounge at the grocery entrance features a kiosk and chairs.
When I toured the front end at the month new store, there were plenty of cashiers. They would ask customers if they needed to be helped.
Anyway what brought me here after a hike in nearby Red Rock Canyon was the Deli rostere lemon & pepper chicken. At $4.98 this is a bargain. It is a bargain that gives Walmart a competitive edge from the competition. However, it is a bargain that they were sold out of. Consequently, my sole purchase ended up being a black forest ham sub from the Subway at the food side entrance.
Parking Lot:
One thing that remains the same is the Walmart parking lot. Parking lots are not Walmarts strong point. There are too few protected spaces where there is a cart corral or island preventing a car from parking in front of another car. The biggest flaw of the parking lot that it is difficult to exit onto northbound Rainbow or westbound Blue Diamond. There is a great need for a traffic signal. To exit out of the parking lot safely, I had to turn right on Rainbow drive half a mile and turn around.
Chance of returning:
There is a major chance of returning. Hopefully the store will remain looking brand new.
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