The new Walmart Neighborhood Market at 98 West Walnut Ave. Dalton will open to the community Wednesday. Besides groceries, the store will provide a full pharmacy, fuel station, and a free store pickup service from items on Walmart.com. The new store will employ up to 95 full- and part-time associates.
“We are proud to be a part of the Dalton community,” said store manager Allan Rittenhouse. “We look forward to opening and providing area residents with Walmart’s everyday low prices. We are here for our customers’ everyday grocery needs as well as, just in time for the new season, ingredients for any special fall treats they want to celebrate with.”
In addition to organics and nutritious food choices, customers will also find a full-service deli and in-store bakery offering custom cakes, and fresh baked breads. The new store will carry a selection of Georgia Grown peaches.
The Neighborhood Market includes a pharmacy with a full range of products, immunizations and services and Walmart pharmacists ready to assist customers with product and prescription questions. Dalton residents can transfer prescriptions and order refills on the go with the Walmart mobile app. A drive thru pharmacy window will be available.
“The Walmart Neighborhood Market is a great addition to Bryman’s plaza and our community," said Chuck Dobbins, chairman of the Executive Board, Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce. "A new store like this is evidence of the continuing recovery of our economy in Greater Dalton.”
The store will employ up to 95 associates for full- and part-time positions within the store. Applicants interested in careers at Walmart can apply at a store’s hiring kiosk or online at Walmartcareers.com. Mr. Rittenhouse began his Walmart career in 2000 as an hourly associate at a Dalton Supercenter.
At Walmart, more than 75 percent of store management teams started as hourly associates. In 2014, 160,000 associates were promoted, and 40 percent of those promotions went to associates within the first year of their employment. Earlier this year Walmart announced it would be investing more than $1 billion in higher wages and training and other enhancements for its associates.
The grand-opening celebration includes presentations of $8,000 in grants from Walmart and the Walmart Foundation to local community groups including the Dalton Police and Fire Departments. Eight local high schools and the Dalton State College will also benefit from the grants. The new store will also continue a commitment by Walmart and the Walmart Foundation to fight hunger in Dalton and across the U.S. Walmart and the Walmart Foundation recently exceeded a $2 billion goal to fight hunger one year ahead of schedule and have donated more than 1.5 billion pounds of food to those in need across the country.
Store associates will host a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony on grand opening day, Wednesday, at 7:30 a.m. Local residents are invited Saturday to A Big Family Welcome, which will give customers a chance to meet Mr. Rittenhouse and enjoy fun family activities and free food samples while supplies last, from 12-3 p.m.