It's going to be big - really big - bringing a dramatic change to South Delta's retail landscape all on its own.
After much speculation, last year brought confirmation that a Walmart would be part of the massive shopping mall development now under construction at the Tsawwassen First Nation.
Walmart Canada will open a store to anchor Tsawwassen Commons, a 550,000-square-foot outdoor mall being built adjacent to Tsawwassen Mills, a 1.2-million-squarefoot fashion mall. Both are scheduled to open in May of 2016.
It's part of an aggressive expansion effort by the world's largest retailer. The Tsawwassen location will be a "supercentre," a type of store the chain has begun to move forward in its quest for retail dominance.
Earlier this year, Walmart Canada celebrated the grand openings of 11 supercentres to complete its expansion for the last fiscal year. Those projects brought Walmart Canada's store count to 394, which includes 280 supercentres.
Noting the Tsawwassen store still has to go through approval processes, thus it can't formally announce details just yet, Walmart Canada spokesperson Alex Robertson told the Optimist new supercentres are typically in the 150,000-squarefoot range.
"All our growth right now is mostly about growing the fresh food offering and expanding access for customers through our ecommerce business," he said.
"So on the fresh side, adding essentially a full complement of groceries to a store is what happens when we make it into a supercentre."
Robertson noted supercentres carry everything from shoes to appliances, while also stocking a larger selection of perishable foods as well as a larger pantry area for dry goods. The goal is to make it as easy for customers to get everything they need in one trip.
"Time being a new valuable commodity, you can save money and get everything in one go and that's what we're trying to support," he said.
According to Walmart Canada, "Walmart supercentres offer a full line of groceries including bakery goods, deli, meat and dairy products as well as fresh produce. This is in addition to the existing departments including electronics, home décor and apparel, creating a one-stop shopping destination dedicated to everyday low prices. Supercentres may also be home to a pharmacy, vision centre, connection centre for wireless services, photo centre, portrait studio, Tire Lube Express for automotive services, Good to Go! Lotto, McDonald's and Western Union."
Being developed by the Property Development Group, Tsawwassen Commons will feature more than 100 retail spaces. It has already confirmed Canadian Tire, Rona, Petsmart and others as tenants.
Property Development Group chair Laurence Rank recently told the Optimist the mall also has enough space to grow in the future, although expansion isn't being considered at this time. Rank said he doesn't envision a potential expansion including an office tower, but residential development and a hotel could one day be in the cards.
