Walmart and I feel that it’s necessary to give back to the community as we are a functioning member of it.”
This is how Marcos Cruz described the opening of the new Walmart Neighborhood Market on South Blosser Road in Santa Maria. The ceremony will take place bright and early on June 12 at 7:30 a.m. Cruz recommended arriving even earlier than that to have a good place among the crowd. At 8 a.m., the ribbon cutting will take place, after which customers will first have access to the new store.
Giving back will be central to the opening.
[newspack-popup id="53316"]“We like to give grants out to the community in order to help the city along and help improve wherever we can help,” Cruz said. He added that the grantees hadn’t been selected yet at the time the Sun spoke with him.
The awarding of grants will be accompanied by a number of other free activities for customers. “One of them is going to be a health fair for our pharmacy and people will be able to do blood pressure checks,” Cruz said. He said that the health fair would include a number of other opportunities that are still being planned. Vendors and charities will also get to set up booths in front of the store to give customers information and free giveaways, while inside the store there will be a number of specials for opening day. In the past Walmart has supported the Santa Maria Boys & Girls Club, the Santa Maria Police Department, and the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County, among others.
“I invite the entire community to come out. It’s going to be a great event. [The community] is more than welcome to come and see what we have to offer for [them], especially in this area,” Cruz said. He noted that Walmart’s neighborhood markets are specifically designed to meet the needs of the communities in which they’re placed. “I’m very excited to bring this style of store to this side of town. This is a grocery store intended to be tailored to the community in this area, so I invite the customers to come in and see what we need. I am also always taking recommendations on what we should carry as well. We have the autonomy to carry almost anything in the store.”
The new Walmart Neighborhood Market will be the company’s second grocery store in Santa Maria. It’s at 500 South Blosser Road in Santa Maria.
Intern Frank Gonzales compiled this week’s Community Corner. Send comments or ideas to the Sun via e-mail at intern@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 6-13, 2013.