Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. will celebrate the grand opening of 33 stores Wednesday by contributing more than $320,000 to charitable organizations and creating more than 14,200 new jobs.

The company will open 29 Supercenters and four discount stores across 22 states, including five stores in Texas, three in Georgia, three in Tennessee, and two stores each in Florida, Missouri and Wisconsin.

During grand-opening ceremonies, Wal-Mart associates will present checks to charitable organizations in their communities. The donations are part of the Wal-Mart/SAM’S CLUB Good.Works. program, a year-round effort to involve associates in their communities. Associates of approximately 3,500 Wal-Mart and SAM’S CLUB locations, including distribution centers, raised and donated more than $190 million to local charitable organizations last year.

“We measure our success by how well we serve customers one at a time, at one store at a time, in one community at a time,” said Tom Coughlin, president and chief executive officer of the Wal-Mart Stores division. “Our associates are active in local organizations as volunteers, and they know which causes and issues are important to our customers. We let them determine how Wal-Mart/SAM’S CLUB Foundation dollars are spent. In fact, 97 percent of our funding initiatives are channeled directly into local communities.”

The company’s one-day impact on jobs will help spur local economies as well. On average, Wal-Mart Supercenters employ 350 associates; discount stores, 150.

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In addition to Wednesday’s grand openings, Wal-Mart will open a discount store March 21 in Ketchikan, Alaska. SAM’S CLUB opened a new club in Shenandoah (Woodlands), Texas, March 1, and relocated a club in Stafford, Texas, March 8.

In the fiscal year that began Feb. 1, 2001, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. plans domestically to open about 40 new discount stores, 170-180 Supercenters, 15-20 Neighborhood Markets and 40-50 SAM’S CLUBS. Internationally, Wal-Mart plans to open 100-110 units in countries in which the company operates.

With annual sales of $191 billion, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates more than 2,600 discount stores, Supercenters and Neighborhood Markets, and more than 470 SAM’S CLUBS in the United States. Internationally, the company operates more than 1,070 units. Wal-Mart employs more than 962,000 associates in the United States and 282,000 in other countries. The company’s securities are listed on the New York and Pacific stock exchanges under the symbol WMT.

Last year Wal-Mart associates raised and contributed more than $190 million to support communities and local non-profit organizations. FORTUNE Magazine has named Wal-Mart the third “most admired” company in America and one of the 100 best companies to work for in America, and Americans named Wal-Mart the company they think of first in supporting local causes and issues, according to Cone, Inc. More information about Wal-Mart can be located on-line at http://www.walmartstores.com. The SAM’S CLUB Web site can be accessed at http://www.samsclub.com. And more information about Wal-Mart’s Good.Works. community involvement is available online at http://www.walmartfoundation.org.

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