Walmart Plans Remodeling For 3 Long Island Stores

Walmart is planning to remodel 13 of its New York stores this year, including three on Long Island. The remodeling will expand the features that the stores offer and bring customer-focused innovations, the retailer said.

The company plans to spend $64 million this year remodeling New York stores. That will include stores in East Meadow, Centereach and Commack. A company spokesman said that there's no timetable yet for when the remodeling would take place, but said that the stores will remain open while the work is done.

“We continue investing in our stores and in our people,” said Keith Wyche, Walmart’s Regional General Manager for New York, in a release. “Our multi-million dollar investment in New York is part of our overall mission to improve the customer experience, making shopping faster and more convenient, both in-store and online. Walmart is committed to being the retailer of choice for customers and communities.”

The remodeling will bring four new features to Long Island stores. First among them is grocery pickup, where customers order their groceries online, and a Walmart associate then loads them directly into the customer's car.

Walmart will continue to innovate to help customers save time and money by creating a seamless shopping experience that gives them the options to shop when, where and how they want. The following are examples of the customer-focused innovations that will be expanded this year in New York. The company will also be expanding its grocery delivery service to the stores.

Walmart also said it will be adding Pickup Towers to the three Long Island stores. The 16-foot-tall towers are like high-tech vending machines, the company said, that customers can use to easily pick up their online orders in the store.

The company will also be adding its new FAST Unloader system to the stores, which will allow employees to more quickly unload trucks and sort merchandise to be placed on shelves.