Walmart to invest $400 million in Canadian business this year
by March 16, 2021 4:26 pm 746 views
Walmart said this week it plans to invest $400.06 million into its Canadian business to refurbish roughly 60% of its stores in 2021. The retail giant said that is the largest annual investment in store upgrades for the business unit in several years.
Walmart Canada announced plans in July to spend $2.812 billion (US$) over the next five years to strengthen its e-commerce business and renovate stores. Walmart Canada also said the store remodel work will create more than 2,000 construction jobs in the country.
Along with this investment, Walmart Canada will also close six stores in the next few months: three in Ontario, two in Alberta and one in Newfoundland and Labrador. Walmart operates 408 stores in the country, 343 are Supercenter locations and 65 are smaller discount stores. Horacio Barbeito, president and CEO of Walmart Canada, said the company is on a mission to modernize all aspects of its business with a focus on stores and serving customers “in more omnichannel ways.”
Walmart Canada employs roughly 91,000 and is headquartered in Mississauga, Canada. The business was founded on March 17, 1994 with the purchase of Woolco, Canada from F.W. Woolworth Company, according to the corporate website.
Walmart Canada is one of the markets Walmart CEO Doug McMillon has tagged as a keeper in the evolving international portfolio with the sales of majority interests in Brazil, Japan and the United Kingdom.