Wal-Mart Stores plans to open four stores in Washington DC, marking its first entry into the state, according to reports.
The world’s largest retailer will open the stores in the district of Columbia, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/17/AR2010111705778.html today (18 November).
The retail behemoth has a distribution centre in Grandview, Washington, which it opened in 2003.
It is understood the four stores would be built in Washington neighbourhoods where “retail options are relatively scarce”. One will be built on the site of a former car dealership on Georgia Avenue NW; one at New York Avenue and Bladensburg Road; one as part of a new mixed-use development on New Jersey Avenue; and one at East Capitol and 58th streets, the publication reported.
The retailer is hoping to create 400 construction jobs and generate in excess of US$10m in tax revenue for the district when the stores open. Completion is expected by 2012, according to the reports.
Wal-Mart could not immediately be reached for comment.
