Waiting on Wal-Mart

By April Taylor Record Editor
Published: August 21, 2008

Bargain shoppers anticipating Wal-Mart’s arrival in Ruckersville will have to wait longer than first projected.
The retail giant announced to the Record back in June 2007 that it expected to begin construction on a new Wal-Mart Supercenter in Ruckersville in Spring 2008, hopefully to open sometime in late 2009.
But Kelly Hobbs, senior public affairs manager for Wal-Mart, said in an interview this week that construction will begin next spring, with a grand opening in spring 2010.
“Wal-Mart has been revaluating our US stores’ growth strategy over the past year, decreasing the number of Supercenters we open in the US over the next three years,“ says Hobbs. “This shift has moved the scheduled grand opening of hundreds of proposed Supercenters across the nation, including the Ruckersville Wal-Mart, which is now scheduled to open in spring 2010.“
In the meantime, construction of a Lowes store - which will along with Wal-Mart anchor the proposed Gateway Center near the US 33 and 29 intersection - continues as scheduled, says Lowes spokesperson Maureen Rich.
“Construction …is moving along smoothly, and we are on track to open our doors during Lowe’s fiscal fourth quarter 2008,“ says Rich.
Wal-Mart’s cautious strategy comes at a time when transportation costs have spiked and consumers are paring down in the midst of high food and fuel costs.
But Hobbs assured local Wal-Mart watchers that “there are no additional changes to the plans for our store (in Ruckersville).“
“We are still looking forward to serving our Greene County customers and bringing services and tax dollars to the area,” says Hobbs. 
Wal-Mart has said that its new Supercenter in Ruckersville will be 153,000 square feet and include a garden center, pharmacy and full grocery with a bakery-deli.  The Supercenter will employ roughly 250 to 300 associates, both full time and part time.