Walmart re-opens Humacao Supercenter after $10M reconstruction
Walmart Puerto Rico announced the reopening Wednesday of the Humacao Supercenter where it invested $10 million in the reconstruction after the facilities were totally destroyed by Hurricane María last year.
The Supercenter will still be located in Plaza Real, and has deli, rotisserie, pastry, butcher, pharmacy, optical shop, supermarket, general merchandise, and a variety of concessions.
In addition, it will offer consumers the latest technology, including registers with a self-check-out system, retail executive said.
“From day one, we have been here after the onslaught of hurricanes Irma and María. We have not spared the investment of resources, given that personnel from other jurisdictions and our associates were working day and night to restore supplies to our stores and for our clients to have access to everything they needed,” said Iván Báez, director of public and government affairs for Walmart Puerto Rico.
“We’ve donated more than $7 million in rescue aid and assistance to individuals and organizations that have attended thousands of victims first-hand. The reopening and investment of the Humacao store is proof of the confidence we have in Puerto Rico’s economic recovery,” he added.
Conscious that the store’s reconstruction would take several months, Walmart provided job continuity to its 500 associates, relocating them in adjacent stores and paying the minimum wage of $11 per hour that Walmart announced earlier this year, he said.
A little less than eight weeks after the hurricane, Walmart opened a pharmacy and a mini Walmart temporary store on the mall’s premises to respond to the need of area residents and neighboring towns to have access to prescription drugs and essential items for daily life, Báez noted.
Gov. Ricardo Rosselló was on hand for Wednesday’s re-opening ceremonies.
It was a great day to see the re-roofed Plaza Real and Walmart back in operation. Many others in this center are yet to re-open. The only negative was the return of traffic and control signals called red-green lights! For months traffic has been moving more easily without long waits at lights except during rush hour traffic!