Springfield Wal-Mart `unique'.Byline: Joe Mosley The Register-GuardSPRINGFIELD - Dignitaries will snip the ribbons today to officially open a new runner-up to the title of largest retail outlet retail outlet n → punto de venta retail outlet n → point m de vente retail outlet retail n → in Lane County - the just-expanded Wal-Mart Supercenter, off Mohawk Boulevard on Olympic Street. It weighs in at a total of 219,000 square feet - about 6,000 square feet shy of the Wal-Mart Supercenter on West 11th Avenue in Eugene, which remains the county's largest retailer. But the Springfield store offers a variety of innovations that are intended to set it apart from Wal-Marts of the past, including energy-saving skylights, cost-efficient freezer freezer the compartment in which meat and offal are stored at freezing temperatures of 10 to 16°F (-12 to -9°C) although there is a trend to lower temperatures of 0 to -22°F (-18 to -30°C). compartments, concrete and wood flooring Wood flooring is a type of flooring made from the timber of hardwoods, or of spruce or hard pine. There are two basic manufactured types of hardwood. Wood flooring comes unfinished, and once installed is sanded, then finished on site. , and a large bottle and can recycling recycling, the process of recovering and reusing waste products—from household use, manufacturing, agriculture, and business—and thereby reducing their burden on the environment. center inside the store. "There are quite a few things that have been added that make this unique," said Amber Williamson of The Ulum Group in Eugene, which is handling the retail chain's local public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most duties. The West 11th Wal-Mart became Lane County's first Supercenter when its expansion was completed almost a year ago, and expansion of the Springfield store has been in the works since early 2005. The Arkansas-based chain has been super-sizing its existing stores across the country for the past several years, adding full-line grocery departments to the traditional non-food Wal-Mart lines. The Springfield Supercenter includes separate areas within the new grocery department for deli, meat, seafood, dairy, produce, frozen food and beer and wine products. Rather than a separate aisle for organic products - a new focus for Wal-Mart stores nationwide - the remodeled store has integrated them onto the shelves with traditional products, in what Williamson called a "more democratic" approach. "An organic aisle can some times be a little intimidating in·tim·i·date tr.v. in·tim·i·dat·ed, in·tim·i·dat·ing, in·tim·i·dates 1. To make timid; fill with fear. 2. To coerce or inhibit by or as if by threats. ," she said. The expansion has created an additional 125 jobs at the Springfield store, for a total of 420, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. materials provided by Williamson. Construction of Springfield's Wal-Mart Supercenter was uneventful, compared with the hubbub that surrounded expansion of the west Eugene store when that project was announced almost three years ago. Critics protested the project, maintaining that the store would contribute to a trend of "big box" stores on the city's perimeter drawing business away from downtown and dominating local retailers. Protesters also attacked what they said was Wal-Mart's hard-line stance against labor unions labor union: see union, labor. and the chain's alleged strong-arm tactics with suppliers. Wal-Mart officials responded that the company simply practices large-scale capitalism, and its customers reap the benefits of its cost-cutting measures. In Springfield, Mayor Sid Leiken and Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Dan Egan are to be on hand to welcome the newest Supercenter at a grand opening ceremony today. Construction permits for the 70,000-square-foot expansion and whole-store remodeling remodeling /re·mod·el·ing/ (re-mod´el-ing) reorganization or renovation of an old structure. bone remodeling project were still being signed off this week, according to the city's Planning Department case file. Wal-Mart did not divulge the cost of the Springfield project. The company owns 19.5 acres at the site, and Lane County property records indicate the total value of the land and improvements was $15.5 million before the just-completed expansion. |
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