ST. CLAIRSVILLE – As part of the recently completed remodel of the St. Clairsville Walmart at 50739 Valley Plaza Drive, customers will see upgrades in several departments and new services aimed at making shopping quicker and more convenient, according to a press release from the company.

In April, Walmart announced plans to spend $81 million in Ohio stores starting with the remodel of 14 stores, including the St. Clairsville location, and the continued expansion of innovative services such as Grocery Pickup and the Pickup Tower, which the company says are saving customers time and money.

“Nearly every department in this store was refreshed in one way or another and our customers will notice the exciting updates as soon as they walk through the door,” store Manager Chastity Lehew said. “While the renovations offer a fresh new look, the innovations and improvements will help save our customers time.”

The associates and managers hosted a grand reopening ceremony Friday to celebrate the completion of the remodel. In addition to providing customers with giveaways and free samples throughout the day, the store awarded a total of $12,000 in grants to support local schools and community-based organizations. Among the groups receiving grants were: Union Local School District; A Special Wish Foundation; Belmont County Sheriff’s Department (Shop With a Cop); Abundant Life Food Pantry; Belmont County Animal Rescue League; Road Home Animal Project; Salvation Army of Bellaire; Tri-County Help Center; and St. Vincent Church Food Pantry.

“The donation we received is greatly needed and is going to be very well used for our humane operations for the animals in our care. We are so excited that Walmart is helping us with that,” Jennifer Woolard, executive director of BCARL, said of the $1,000 donation her group received.

The remodel

Walmart customers in Belmont County will notice the following store improvements as part of the store remodel:

∫ State-of-the-art electronics department with interactive displays that allow customers to test out electronics in person before purchasing;

∫ Modernized grocery layout, including new deli counter, hot case and all new produce tables;

∫ Three-in-one service counter in Hardware/Auto/Sporting Goods;

∫ Increased number of products in home, pets, sporting good and hardware;

∫ Installation of a new family restroom providing further convenience to customers with children; and

∫ New signage, lighting, flooring and lower fixtures throughout the store for better line of sight and easier navigation.

Grocery Pickup

Walmart’s grocery pickup option is now available at the St. Clairsville store, aimed at giving customers the convenience of shopping online and the ease of quickly picking up groceries without having to leave their cars. There is no additional cost for this service. Walmart plans to expand the program to 51 stores across Ohio by the end of the year.

Flex Tower

Walmart has also made the Flex Tower available to customers at the St. Clairsville store. Similar to the Pickup Tower, the Flex Tower is more modular while offering the same functionality, capable of fulfilling an online order in less than a minute once the customer arrives at the store. They are easy to use — once the order is ready, the customer steps up to the tower and scans the barcode sent to their smartphone to retrieve the item.

The following are examples of other customer-focused innovations that will be expanded this year in Ohio:

FAST Unloader

Today, product is unloaded as it arrives at the store through a complex, highly manual process that has seen little innovation over the last 50 years. A new system in Walmart back rooms — known as FAST — automatically scans and sorts items that come off trucks based on priority and department, allowing associates to spend less time unloading in the back room and more time on the sales floor with customers. Walmart has expanded this technology to the St. Clairsville store and plans to add it at 45 other stores across the state this year.

Autonomous Floor Scrubber

The autonomous floor scrubber uses assisted autonomy technology to perform the task of cleaning and scrubbing the concrete floors in stores. The company plans to expand the technology to 63 stores across Ohio this year. It will be implemented in the St. Clairsville store in early 2020.