SEQUIM – New flooring, signage, displays, a mural and a modernized online grocery pickup area are just some of the many changes at the 20-year-old Walmart store in Sequim.
Employees and community leaders celebrated the completion of the modernization of the store at 1110 W. Washington St.
Store managers, formerly known as assistant managers, said the work by team members from Jackson Dean Construction and Walmart Realty Execution began in April, when crews worked nights through Aug. 2 and still had a few minor details to complete.
“Almost every department has been upgraded in some way or another,” store manager Liza Baudais told a large crowd in the store’s garden department before the grand opening with the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Walmart donated to four organizations, including $2,500 to the YMCA of the Olympic Peninsula and the Dungeness Valley Health and Wellness Clinic and $2,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula and the Sequim Police Department.
After Mary Hailey sang the national anthem, Baudais noted that 10 of the original employees have stayed with the store since it opened, and she recognized four employees who have been with Walmart for more than 25 years – including Celena Holm, who started at the former Walmart store in Port Angeles 29 years ago before moving to Sequim in 2004.
“It’s a refreshing sight,” Holm said of the renovation. “I’m glad it’s over. It looks very nice.”
In memory of Lynie
Store employees John-Paul and Jessica Davis took the time to pay their respects to longtime employee Lynie Staus, who passed away on May 1 after a battle with cancer.
“He was a great asset to this company and this community,” said John-Paul, acknowledging Lynie’s kindness, volunteerism and dedication to the Olympic Peninsula Rat Racers.
“He enjoyed talking to people and always had a good attitude and a smile on his face.”
John-Paul said he nicknamed Staus the “King of Sequim.”
The Davises presented Staus’ wife, Donna, with a Lynie’s work vest in a shadow box and gave the Staus’ granddaughter, Jordyn Mancuso-Staus, a vest and hat of her own. Jordyn and Donna were also asked to cut the ribbon for the remodel.
Donna Staus said the presentation was a pleasant surprise because John-Paul simply asked her to attend and bring her granddaughter.
“To be honest, I didn’t expect this,” she said.
Lynie died shortly before his 24th anniversary with the company; he too had started at the Port Angeles store before moving to Sequim to help open the new store.
“He was the 58th employee at the Sequim store,” Donna said.
New mural
The main entrance of the redesigned store features a printed mural by artist Amelia Kaiser titled “Spirit of Sequim.”
Kaiser said in a news release that her husband attended church in Sequim and frequently shopped for groceries there. The mural features the Olympic Mountains, Roosevelt elk, an elk, an eagle, the New Dungeness Lighthouse, lavender and orcas.
Walmart partners with public art agency NOW Art to curate art and engage artists across the country. Kaiser worked with the Walmart Community Mural Program, which seeks original murals for remodeled stores that reflect “local diversity and cultural references,” according to the company.
According to her Instagram page @Amelia_Kaiser_Art, she recently completed a mural for a Walmart in Woodland.
equipment
The Walmart in Sequim was expanded in 2012 into a supercenter with a grocery department, deli department, bakery and expanded sales area.
During a tour with Keith Hughes, a general merchandise coach, and his colleague Tina Lewis, they said workers had ripped out and replaced all of the store’s flooring and had to clear about 3,000 square feet each night by rearranging the store’s aisles.
While sections have been moved to allow for the work, Hughes said the layout will remain as it is.
New department signage includes large lettering above areas such as the Auto Care Center and food service area.
Lewis said each aisle has labels to help customers more easily find what they are looking for.
“The customers benefit from it,” she said. “Plus, the store is brighter.”
New features include clothes racks and vignettes showing various items, such as a bedroom set.
The online grocery pickup area, added during the COVID-19 pandemic, moved from the west side of the building to the east side near the auto center a few weeks ago.
The cash registers have also been renewed and a grab-and-go area with cold drinks and snacks as well as a warming counter have been set up next to the main entrance for customers who shop in-store or online.
According to employees, the renovation also includes a modernized appearance and/or more modern equipment for the car center, the delicatessen, the garden center, the pharmacy and the optician’s center.
Walmart has set up so-called “digital touchpoints” throughout the store with QR codes and/or digital screens that offer various options, such as having an item delivered to the customer’s home.
Baudais said Walmart employs 234 part-time and full-time associates in Sequim. It is one of 64 Walmart stores in Washington, with over 23,000 employees across the state, employees said.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which includes Sound Publishing’s Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. He can be reached at [email protected].
