Walmart formally opens larger Clay store

CLAY — A new Walmart Supercenter formally opened in Clay on Wednesday, June 4 with a grand opening/ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The new 152,000-square-foot store is situated at 8770 Dell Center Drive, next door to Walmart’s previous smaller store at 2949 Route 31, which was about 115,000 square feet.

The newly relocated store employs about 300 people total, an increase of about 85 jobs over the prior location.

The new Walmart is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and offers a full line of groceries, including organic/natural food, a bakery, and self-serve deli. It also provides pharmacy services.

“We are pleased to see the expansion of one of our newest members, Walmart, in the Town of Clay,” Tom Conley, president of the Greater Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, said in a news release. “This expansion will bring an increase of job opportunities and provide greater sale tax revenue to the area. Other area merchants will also benefit from the increase in shoppers in the area.”

The Walmart Clay store manager is Justin Saville, who started his career at the retailer in 1997 as an hourly associate.

“We are excited to expand our grocery offerings and bring additional jobs to Clay,” Saville said in the release.

Holding company Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) says more than 245 million customers and members visit its 11,302 stores under 71 banners in 27 countries and e-commerce websites in 10 countries. With fiscal-year 2014 sales exceeding $473 billion, the company employs more than 2 million people worldwide.