It’s been more than five years since Walmart announced it was looking into opening a store in Kapolei.
Tomorrow, the new Kapolei Walmart opens.
We were there late this afternoon, and employees were still doing the final preps ahead of tomorrow morning’s grand opening.
You’re looking at the ninth Walmart store in Hawaii.
It’s at the corner of Farrington Highway and Makakilo Drive.
"Let’s go to electronics."
Store Manager Janie Whitehead gives us a tour.
"So we’ve got our TV wall back there, iPhones, iPads, things like that here."
This store features an expanded electronics department.
"More TVs. That’s a really big TV wall."
And an expanded grocery section.
"We’ve got the pre-packaged produce, lots of frozen food and refrigerated food."
There’s also a souvenir department.
"This is for our tourists staying in the Ko Olina area."
And, what Janie considers her favorite part of the store –
"The Garden Center. It’s pretty — all the plants out there."
And lots of them.
Janie says of all the Walmart stores in Hawaii, this one most closely resembles the one in Pearl City.
The company hired 300 new employees.
"And we also have 23 associates who transferred in from other stores "
Initially there was community concern over the potential traffic caused by Walmart shoppers.
But the company made a number of changes to lessen the impact.
"We did make some improvements on Farrington Highway."
Including modifications to traffic signals at the intersections.
And for the next two weeks, special duty police officers will help direct traffic in the area.
"We’re just excited to finally open."
The Kapolei Walmart opens at 10 tomorrow morning.
There will be a blessing, and vendors sampling products.
The store will be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
