Walmart Investing $750 Million To Expand Canadian Footprint
by February 7, 2012 3:39 pm 86 views
Walmart confirmed today (Feb. 7) plans to spend $750 million in Canada to complete at least 73 projects this year, which will add 4.6 million square feet for retail giant.
The investment comes a full year ahead of its discount competitor — Target — who recently announced its entry into Canada with 24 new stores by the spring of 2013.
The 73 projects on tap for this year will include building new stores and expanding, remodeling or relocating existing stores, according to Walmart’s release. More than half of the projects will be super centers, the company said. Walmart also estimates the work will create more than 14,000 store, trade and construction jobs.
In June 2011, Walmart Canada purchased 39 Zellers stores which will reopen as Walmarts this year, taking one former local competitor out of the market.
Shelley Broader, President and CEO of Walmart Canada noted in the release, “This is an exciting year for Walmart Canada. We are proud of our 18-year record of growth, and of the investment we make in the Canadian economy. As the country’s fastest growing retailer, every year we create thousands of new jobs, spend billions of dollars with Canadian suppliers, and invest millions in Canadian communities.”
Kim Souza with our content partner, The City Wire, has more analyst commentary in this report.
Shares of Bentonville-based Wal-Mart were trading around $61.75 in mid-afternoon trading, up from its opening price of $61.62. During the past 52 weeks, the share price has ranged from a $62.63 high to a $48.31 low.