Oxford Walmart Adds Curbside Pickup

BY JAKE STANLEY

Miami University Journalism Student

Walmart shoppers in Oxford can now order items online and pick them up at the store's curbside pickup.

It is the first grocery store in Oxford to offer the service, which began earlier in October.

Six lanes on the east side of the store at 5720 College Corner Pike area set aside for pickup. The lanes are promoted with new orange signs and street paint.

Competing with Amazon

The Oxford location is one of over 1,000 U.S. stores that will add the pickup service by the end of 2017. Walmart, along with other grocers, is looking to compete with Amazon, which recently announced plans to build physical stores throughout the country that allow for delivery and pickup from online ordering.

Kroger, the largest supermarket chain in the U.S., adopted the ClickList online ordering system in early 2015 and it has quickly expanded to over 300 stores throughout the country.

“We do not have plans at this time to open a ClickList location at the Oxford Kroger,” said Kroger spokesperson Patty Leesemann.

Convenient Shopping

Under the Walmart system, customers can order all grocery items, as well as general merchandise items such as electronics, cosmetics and limited types of clothing. Orders made before 10 a.m. can be picked up later in the day, while orders made after that time are available the following day.

There is also an option to schedule orders for up to three weeks in advance. The service will operate daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Walmart expects 40 orders per day for the first month, followed by an average of 75 pickups per day, according to documents shared from developer SGA Design Group.

Downsizing Plans

The new setup at Walmart marks a scaling-down of the original renderings that were sent to Oxford city planners in July.

According to city planner Sam Perry, the original proposal from SGA Design called for a pickup area featuring five lanes and a metal canopy. Perry described the setup as a hybrid of a Sonic drive-thru and a bank.

The Perry-led Community Development Department was tasked with assessing the impact of the canopy area on the site, specifically issues concerning the BCRTA bus stop, pedestrian movement and traffic flow in the parking lot.

“The main thing we look for is impact to surrounding properties and public safety,” said Perry.

The Walmart addition provided an interesting scenario due to the natures of the zoning code and changing commercial developments.

“Zoning codes didn’t anticipate moving toward a digital world,” Perry remarked.

Perry said the department anticipated working through the issues with SGA Design, but revisions were never officially made. Due to the vast building of canopies at Walmart stores nationwide, vendors supplying materials for their construction could not fulfill orders and SGA made changes to the Oxford plans.

“They had to downgrade their scope,” said Perry.

The revised plan was presented to the city in a concept review before the City of Oxford Planning Commission on Oct. 11. Originally, the drive-thru concept required approval for “conditional use” by the commission, but the changes effectively negated major involvement from the committee.

“By the time it gets to us, we on the planning commission don’t really have much to say about it,” said David Prytherch, chair of the Planning Commission and associate professor of geography at Miami University.

SGA Design intends to add a small canopy over the area’s entry door, but the alteration would be allowed as an “accessory use” because it makes no substantial change to the building. Prytherch added that the signage posted at the store must comply with city sign zoning regulations, which he expects will be handled with Perry and his staff.

“It’s like four individuals parking to run in,” said Prytherch. “That’s why it doesn’t rise to the level of needing review from us.”

Photo: Four curbside pickup lanes and an entry door have been added to the east side of the Oxford Walmart store. (Credit: Jake Stanley)