ALLISTON - After three years of anticipation, the doors to Alliston's Walmart opened yesterday (Wednesday) morning.
A dozen people lined up outside the doors to get inside the store half an hour before it opened, while the official opening ceremonies were taking place with Walmart staff, both corporate and locally, town officials, and the local business community.
New Tecumseth first got word that Walmart was opening a store locally in 2006 and the opening ended up being a year later than initially anticipated. Located on Highway 89 east of County Road 10, the new 143,000-square-foot supercentre offers groceries, electronics, home décor, and clothing.
To celebrate the opening, Walmart opened more than its doors, as the local story gave away more than $26,000 to community organizations.
The Stevenson Memorial Hospital Foundation, Tosorontio Central Public School, My Sister's Play and Matthews House Hospice each received cheques for $3,000. Sick Kids Miracle Networ, Breakfast Club of Canada and the Canadian Red Cross each got $4,000.
Rory MacKinnon, owner of the Alliston and Angus McDonald's and the new owner of the restaurant in Walmart, also donated $6,500 to the Stevenson Memorial Hospital Foundation.
Walmart may be known for its blue logos and uniforms, but the store was built with green in mind.
Some of the environmentally friendly initiatives include outdoor LED signs, sandwich bales to divert waste from the landfill, and high-efficiency coolers and freezers. There is also concrete flooring for chemical-free clean-up and increased roof insulation to reduce energy loss. For customers, there are hundred of environmentally preferable products.
"We continue to pilot new technologies, drive innovation and experiment with new prototypes to create some of the most sustainable stores in retail," said store manager Mark Blake.
Walmart means much more than a new shopping centre for the area.
One of its features is a walk-in medical clinic, the first for New Tecumseth. That's good news for the more than 800 people on a waiting list for a family doctor in South Simcoe.
Other time-saving services include a pharmacy, vision centre, one-hour photo lab, portrait studio, connection centre for wireless phone sales, and Good to Go! Lottery terminal. There is also a Smart Style Hair Salon, Regal Nail Salon, and McDonald's.
At the Walmart site, the second phase of the project, a 1,361-square-foot retail development, was approved by New Tecumeth in October. The four outlet stores that will open with that phase is Dollarama, A New Look Optical, Great Clips Hair Cutters, Subway and a dentist's office.
Construction of the second phase is expected to be finished by this summer.
