After two years remodelling the former Sears store at Hillside Shopping Centre, Walmart has announced an opening date for its newest location: June 16.
Walmart Canada corporate affairs manager Felicia Fefer said the 139,000-square-foot Walmart Supercentre, on the mall’s north side along North Dairy Road, will employ 350 people and offer groceries, general merchandise, a pharmacy and pickup services.
Fefer said the store will include a 4,000-square-foot primary-care medical clinic with services such as a chiropractor, physiotherapy and medical spa. The clinic will be operated by Jack Nathan Health, which has clinics in several Walmart locations across Canada, and is slated to open later this year.
The reconstruction of the two-floor space was fraught with delays caused by supply-chain issues and worker shortages.
Fefer said about 200 trades and construction jobs were involved in the rebuild.
The Hillside store gives Walmart a third location in the capital region after Langford and Uptown in Saanich.
A glance into the new store on Thursday revealed banks of shelves already being stocked with goods.
Walmart Canada leased the space in 2019, following the collapse of Sears Canada in early 2018. Sears had been part of the shopping centre on the Victoria-Saanich border since it opened in 1969.
The Hillside Walmart will be larger than the Langford store, but the Uptown Walmart will remain the company’s largest in the region at 216,000 square feet. That location is considered one of Walmart’s top-performing stores in Canada, according to Retail Insider.
Hillside Shopping Centre will be adding a 15,000-square-foot Dollarama store this spring, but an opening date hasn’t been announced.
Other anchor tenants at Hillside include Thrifty Foods, Canadian Tire and Marshalls.
The mall property is owned by the BentallGreenOak Prime Canadian Property Fund, based in Vancouver.
