Walmart Plans to Spend Estimated $87.5 Million on Illinois Stores

CHICAGO, Ill. (April 10, 2019) — Building on its commitment to save customers time and money in new ways, Walmart expects to spend an estimated $87.5 million this year in Illinois through the remodeling of 16 stores, as well as the launch and continued expansion of several customer-focused innovations.

“We’re committed to giving our customers the best experience both in store and online, and that starts with making it easy to shop how and when you want,” said Walmart Vice President and Regional General Manager Dale Murphy. “We’re really excited to expand these popular innovations in communities across Illinois.”

2019 Walmart Remodels in Illinois

Walmart plans to remodel the following 16 Illinois stores:

• 1640 S. Galena Ave., Dixon
• 801 Meacham Rd., Elk Grove Village
• 1300 Des Plaines Ave., Forest Park
• 6660 Godfrey Rd., Godfrey
• 1316 S. State St., Jerseyville
• 3801 Running Brook Farms Blvd., Johnsburg
• 15150 US Highway 150, Paris
• 2111 Claude Bailey Pkwy., Princeton
• 7219 Walton St., Rockford
• 3849 Northridge Dr., Rockford
• 3902 W. Riverside Blvd., Rockford
• 1870 W. Main St., Salem
• 1410 N. Market St., Sparta
• 4115 E. Lincolnway, Sterling
• 1530 W. Springfield Rd., Taylorville
• 555 E. Townline Rd., Vernon Hills

2019 Walmart Innovations in Illinois

Walmart will continue to innovate to help customers save time and money by creating a seamless shopping experience that gives them the options to shop when, where and how they want. The following are examples of the customer-focused innovations that will be expanded this year in Illinois.

1. Grocery Pickup: Busy customers love Walmart’s grocery pickup option. It gives them the convenience of shopping online and the ease of quickly picking up groceries without having to leave their cars. The best part: it’s all at no additional cost. Walmart plans to expand the popular program to 40 stores across Illinois by the end of the year. The company also recently introduced Walmart Voice Order, which allows customers to simply say “Hey Google, talk to Walmart” and the Google Assistant will add items directly to their Walmart Grocery cart.
2. Grocery Delivery: Walmart’s convenient grocery delivery service is also proving to be a hit with customers. This year, Walmart plans to add the service to 37 Illinois stores, increasing its coverage area in the state.
3. Walmart Pickup Towers: Walmart Pickup Towers are 16-feet tall, high-tech vending machines capable of fulfilling a customer’s online order in less than a minute once they arrive at the store. It’s easy to do: once the order is ready, step up to the Pickup Tower and scan the barcode sent to your smartphone to retrieve your item. This year, Walmart plans to add 22 Pickup Towers to stores across Illinois.
4. FAST Unloader: Today, product is unloaded as it arrives at the store through a complex, highly manual process that has seen little innovation over the last 50 years – until now. A new system in Walmart backrooms – known as FAST –automatically scans and sorts items that come off trucks based on priority and department, allowing associates to spend less time unloading in the backroom and more time on the sales floor with customers. This year, Walmart plans to expand the technology to 50 stores in Illinois
5. Autonomous Floor Scrubber: The autonomous floor scrubber uses assisted autonomy technology to perform the task of cleaning and scrubbing the concrete floors in stores. The company plans to expand the technology to 52 stores across Illinois this year.