BENTONVILLE -- People who live in and around downtown have a new place buy groceries after the Walmart Neighborhood Market in the new Midtown Center opened Wednesday morning.
A crowd of a couple hundred people, the majority Walmart employees, gathered for the opening.
Market Numbers
As of August there were 656 Walmart Neighborhood Markets in the United States. As of June, 25 of those were in Arkansas.
Source: Wal-Mart
Red, white and blue balloon arches were placed at the west and south entrances for Veterans Day. The Bentonville High School choir sang the national anthem as the American flag was raised. The crowd said the Pledge of Allegiance.
Two lights at the west entrance were lit green for Wal-Mart's Green Light A Vet campaign, which encourages participants to change one light at home to green as a way to show support of military veterans.
The market's location to the square is what most people are excited about, said Jessica Kirk, store manager.
"It's so accessible to the hustle and bustle of downtown," she said.
The market is at 205 N. Main St., just a block north of the square's northwest corner. It will operate 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
While most Neighborhood Markets have a drink bar and a few have a pizza program, this market also has a seating area where people can eat lunch, Kirk said. It's an amenity included because of location. The pizza program allows customers to either select pre-made pizzas or build their own and have them oven-baked there in 5 minutes.
The market has 31,000 square feet and includes a deli and bakery. It offers fresh produce, meat and other groceries, according to a news release. It also includes a pharmacy with a drive-thru window. Ninety-five people are employed there.
A grocery shopping service also is offered. Customers can order items online and pick them up at the market.
Michele Pritchett was one of the first customers Wednesday morning. She and her children were there to pick up breakfast. She and her family live two blocks away and counted down the days until the market opened, she said.
"It makes it a lot easier to run over and pick up things that we need on short notice," she said. "I'm going to enjoy shopping here."
The Neighborhood Market anchors the northeast corner of the still-forming Midtown Center. It's the second business to open, just a day behind Onyx Coffee Lab, which opened Tuesday at 100 N.W. Second St.
Backwoods, an Austin, Texas-based outdoor gear and apparel store, will hold its opening at 110 N.W. Second St. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. It's operating during its "soft opening" now.
The new Midtown Center includes two three-story buildings. Each has 20,000 square feet of office space on the second and third floors. There is 8,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor in the east building and 5,500 square feet in the west building.
Onyx is in the east building. Backwoods is in the west building.
The Pressroom has announced it will move to the Midtown Center from a block south at 121 W. Central Ave.
A three-story, 253-space parking deck is west of the Neighborhood Market and north of the center's west building.
Ground floor of the parking deck is reserved for Neighborhood Market customers. The upper two levels are for businesses in the office spaces during normal business hours and will be available to the public on nights and weekends, said Doug Bryant, property manager for Walton Enterprises, previously.
A phone message left at Walton Enterprises for Bryant midday Wednesday wasn't immediately returned.
Walton Enterprises manages the 2.72 acres the center is on. Walton 5 and 10 Cent Stores owns the property.
NW News on 11/12/2015