Diamond Hill Wal-Mart To Close This Fall

Based on market research Wal-Mart has decided to close its Woonsocket location and open a new Wal-Mart Supercenter in North Smithfield.  The Woonsocket location will close when construction at the new store is finished sometime in the fall, according to Christopher Buchanan, a Wal-Mart spokesperson.

Employees currently working at the Woonsocket Wal-Mart will relocate to the North Smithfield location in Dowling Village on Route 146a, wrote Buchanan in an e-mail.

“Our market research has told us that a relocation to a larger store in North Smithfield is the best move at this time on behalf our area customers,” wrote Buchanan.

The new “supercenter” in North Smithfield will be about 200,000 square feet, stock everything a Wal-Mart discount store does and feature a full service supermarket that includes a meat section, deli, produce, bakery and frozen foods, according to a manager at the Woonsocket Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart has yet to make a decision on what they will do with the current property at 1919 Diamond Hill Road, which was built 27 years ago.

“The Woonsocket store may or may not reopen,” said Matt Wojcik, Woonsocket’s economic development coordinator, “Regardless or not the building needed to close because the building needs to be rehabbed.”

Wal-Mart is the seventh largest taxpayer in the city.  Property tax on the land and building generates the city a little bit less than $300,000 per year, according to Wojcik.

Officials at Wal-Mart will be looking at whether the new North Smithfield store attracts the same customer base as Woonsocket’s, said Wojcik.  If Wal-Mart finds that customers from Woonsocket are not travelling to the North Smithfield location, which will be less than five miles away, then the Woonsocket location will re-open.

“Currently, we are keeping our options open as a company,” wrote Buchanan, “We hope to assess the situation after we open our new store in North Smithfield and do what is best for our customers.”

Wal-Mart will continue to pay taxes on the building and the property as long as they own them, said Wojcik.

“The number one best solution is for Wal-Mart to stay here,” said Wojcik, “They’re a good corporate citizen and they give the community a good product.  If they can’t stay here we would hope another quality business would come in such as Christmas Tree Shops or BJ’s Wholesale.”

Unlike the Woonsocket location, the North Smithfield Wal-Mart will not have a public transportation hook-up.

"We expect most of our existing customers [will] continue to frequent the new store, saving money so they can live better," wrote Buchanan.