Shoppers welcome Wal-Mart to Maricopa

Hundreds of eager Maricopa residents gathered Wednesday to celebrate the grand opening of Wal-Mart.

The ceremonies to commemorate the store’s grand opening kicked off at 7:30 a.m., featuring speeches by the mayor and Wal-Mart executives and performances by the Maricopa High School band.

“I would like to thank everyone for being here. This is such a special occasion,” said Suzzie Cortez, manager of the new store.

After the ceremonies the store opened at 8 a.m. and within minutes customers were strolling through the aisles of Maricopa’s newest shopping location.

“I told my kids this morning that instead of having to go to Chandler for four hours to do my shopping, I can now get it done in town in 30 minutes,” said resident Tiffany Nolan. “This is awesome.”

Others echoed the excitement of having the retail giant located in the city.

“This is the best thing to happen to Maricopa,” said resident Jan Grant, who said she would no longer have to drive to Casa Grande to shop.

Robert Luster offered his review of the store, saying that he was very impressed by the layout and loved the low shelving and wide aisles.

“It makes it easier to navigate the store and reach the items you want,” he said.

It is shoppers like these that helped draw a Wal-Mart to Maricopa in a down economic time.

“When we looked at Maricopa as a potential store location several years ago, we saw a need not being met,” said Michael Bender, Wal-Mart Southwest region general manager.

Bender said at that time Maricopa was still experiencing rapid growth, but even with the economic slowdown, the retailer kept its commitment to the area because the community had the type of economic conditions Wal-Mart seeks.

“We are confident this is going to be a successful store,” Bender said.

Maricopa Mayor Anthony Smith said he envisions the area where Wal-Mart is located to become a future economic corridor. He said officials with another tenant scheduled for the center, Home Depot, has told him they will be monitoring how Wal-Mart fares.

“If they or other retailers see that Maricopa residents keep their money local, that is going to be a draw,” Smith said.

Wal-Mart is projected to generate at least $350,000 per year in additional sales tax revenue for the city.

“We had to give a few concessions to get them here, but it was worth it,” Smith said.

As an incentive, the city agreed to refund the builder of the Wells at Maricopa shopping center and Wal-Mart for the cost of necessary infrastructure and offsite improvements through a tax rebate. The $18.4 million in improvements included the relocation of a flood channel, the addition of several stoplights and upgrades to the Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway.

To recoup these costs the developer, Shea Properties, will receive a 1 percent rebate of all sales tax generated by the Wal-Mart and a rebate on construction tax.

The Wal-Mart Supercenter, which will be open 24/7, also provides a boost to the local job market. To date, the store has hired 303 associates, with 90 percent of them being local residents.

“We have a tradition of having the number one performing stores and I look forward to the day Wal-Mart Maricopa can report they are number one,” Smith said.

Photo by Michael K. Rich