Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 29, 1995 TAG: 9507310032
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KENNETH SINGLETARY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Finally.
More than a year after newspaper stories about a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter in Christiansburg first appeared, nearlya year after Wal-Mart filed the site plan for the store and several months after construction began, Wal-Mart has finally gotten around to officially proclaiming what has become obvious in the New River Valley.
Friday, the retailer for the first time confirmed that it is building a 200,000-square-foot store across Peppers Ferry Road from the New River Valley Mall.
The one-page news release, faxed to newspapers offices Friday morning, says the store is scheduled to open next spring, will employ about 400 people, including 240 new workers, and will have a McDonald's restaurant.
Other information about the Supercenter has already been reported, including that the store will be open 24 hours and have a grocery area. That area will feature a fresh bakery, delicastessen, fresh produce, frozen foods, and a meat and dairy section.
The new store will have 36 general merchandise departments similar to what is offered in the Marketplace, which has 160 workers. Those employees will be offered jobs at the new store.
The release does not say what will happen to the space where the smaller, 81,000 -square-foot Wal-Mart is located. Keith Morris, a spokesman for Wal-Mart at the corporation's headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., said the company will try to find a new tenant. Its first choice will be a local business, but Wal-Mart "hasn't begun to look into it."
Mike Thornton, manager of Valley View Mall and the Marketplace, both owned by Faison, deferred comment to Wal-Mart. He said Wal-Mart has a long-term lease at the Marketplace.
Morris said Wal-Mart will announce its hiring procedures during the mid to late phases of construction the Supercenter. He said the pay will be higher than its local competitors. Herb Conley, manager at the Marketplace Wal-Mart, said pay there starts at $5 per hour, but he said Supercenters are a different division in the company and pay may be different.
Morris said the delay in releasing its official announcement was because of the company's policy of withholding such announcements until all necessary permits have been obtained. Christiansburg issued Wal-Mart's final permit, the building permit, June 8. The announcement is being released only now because the director who authorized it was traveling.
Wal-Mart has 41 stores, two Supercenters and more than 14,000 employees in Virginia. Supercenters are under construction in Roanoke and Rocky Mount.
by CNB