Wal-Mart makes ‘Grand’ appearance

Hundreds gathered for the Monday night ceremonies at Wal-Mart.
Photo: Art Parker

By ART PARKER

The Wal-Mart Supercenter in Millbrook hosted a VIP Open House Monday night, June 11, just two days before its Grand Opening early Wednesday morning. The giant retailer officially opened its doors for business Wednesday morning at 8 a.m..
“This store is absolutely huge,” Millbrook Mayor Al Kelley said Monday night as he gazed around the colossal store. “Twenty years ago we never thought we would have something like this - especially a model store for one of the leaders of retail. I’m real proud.”
According to store manager Kenny Hinds, the new 204,000-square-foot store offers general merchandise departments, a bakery, delicatessen, frozen food section and meat, dairy and fresh produce sections, as well as beer and wine. The store will serve customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
At the open house Hinds served as emcee for the All-American event and introduced all assistant managers and other Wal-Mart associates. Local Boy Scouts served as a color guard and led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Pastor June Jernigan of FUMC delivered the invocation. Assistant store manager Gwen Harris sang the National Anthem beautifully in a cappella. Kelley spoke with a great deal of emotion about the Wal-Mart development and Millbrook’s progress
“You can spend your money here and it will stay here,” Kelley said. The Mayor praised the city council for its hard work and cooperation and said without the council, “important projects like Wal-Mart could never happen.”
A very happy Victor Long, councilman from Ward One, simply said, “What can I say? This store is simply great. We need this and we are fortunate to have it.”
Before the first cash register recorded the first sale, Wal-Mart made investments into the community. The company will have community grants available from time to time, but Monday night, as part of its grand opening festivities, the store announced an initial $19,000 in donations to area organizations.
The primary seven organizations receiving charitable contributions were City of Millbrook Fire Department,  Central Alabama Community Foundation Inc., City of Millbrook Beautification Commission, Alabama Kiwanis Foundation, Inc., Welcome Inc., Stanhope Elmore High School Baseball and the YMCA.
Located at 145 Kelly Blvd., the new store is the anchor of Hillcrest Center, a new shopping center at the corner of Highway 14 and Grandview Road. Wal-Mart is convenient for residents in all of west Elmore County. The store brings jobs and opportunities. There were more than 800 applications for the 400 plus new jobs planned at the new store. The average wage at Wal-Mart for full-time employees is over $10 per hour.
“Many associates joined because they know they have the opportunity for a long-lasting career at Wal-Mart,” said Hinds, who is among the 76 percent of Wal-Mart store managers who joined the company as hourly associates. Hinds began his Wal-Mart career 15 years ago, gathering carts in the parking lots at a store in Jasper.
“I’ve worked at a lot of stores and managed several, but none were like this. This store is really something and I’m proud the company selected me to be its manager,” Hinds remarked.
The associates of the Millbrook Wal-Mart have worked tirelessly to open the store. The days have been long and the preparation seemed endless to some. Almost all associates played a role in the store preparation, even though most will have completely different jobs once the store opens.
“It’s been worth it,” said associate Jessica Ray. “I think all of us are very proud of what we have done in a short period of time. And you better believe we are excited about our store opening.”