West Boca Walmart Grand Opening – Photos and Videos

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The West Boca Walmart got off to a beautiful sunrise start this morning. We attended the Grand Opening (or reopening). For those who don’t know, it’s on the southeast corner of Palmetto Park Road and US-441:

Hours are generally 7 am to 10 pm but see our earlier article for more detailed hours.
Below are some photos and videos of the event. First a few shots of the front and the crowd outside before the event started.
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Next, here’s a video walk-through of the entrance of the store:

It was definitely a Walmart inside, and it felt new. There’s a lot of space. It seems bigger than we expected. There was some cuteness, with a couple of mascots on hand:
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They had some freebies and store manager David Bonutti told us that they have various events happening for the rest of the week, through Sunday. Here are the pharmacy staff with a table and some kind of giveaway.
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We were not surprised to see the ammo counter was very busy. It’s a popular thing at Walmart and shoppers like to get there early and get whatever’s on the shelves.
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The grocery area, in particular, is larger. We figured it might be 15,000 square feet, but it’s probably over 30,000 square feet. In other words, it’s as big as a Publix.
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This throws off our previous analysis of the grocery store competition in West Boca from when we heard Aldi might be coming. Now we wonder if Aldi might not come. The competition may be a tight squeeze for Western Beef, which is right in the middle of two big Walmarts and across the street from a Publix.
There’s good reason for them to worry. Walmart’s parking lot was pretty full for just the first day and so early in the morning:
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And people were pouring into the store:

Here are a few more pictures from inside, and some videos of the event:
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Ribbon Cutting:

Blessing:

And this one’s long, but it’s speeches and more including:
Walmart cheer starting around 30 seconds in;
National Anthem around 1:45 in;
Store manager David Bonutti around 4 minutes in; and more.

Tuesday Events: Chamber and Community Council

Two of West Boca’s community groups will have events on their usual second Tuesday of the month – this coming Tuesday the 9th.
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The West Boca Chamber of Commerce will have its monthly breakfast meeting. The guest speaker will be Cheryl Moss-Mellman of The Breast Center, which is part of West Boca Medical Center and West Boca Diagnostic Imaging. It looks like she might be a good speaker:

Dr Cheryl Moss-Mellman was chosen to be this year’s Event Chair and Keynote Speaker for the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer of South Palm Beach.

The breakfast is at Boca Greens Country Club from 7:30 – 9 am. It’s $20 if you preregister on the West Boca Chamber events webpage, or $25 at the door. We’ve been to several of their breakfasts. It’s a good group of people and Boca Greens serves good food. Boca Greens is on the west side of 441 between Glades and Yamato.


In the evening, the West Boca Community Council will have their monthly meeting at Boca Lago Country Club, starting at 7:30 pm. The guest speaker will be Louis Caplan. Mr. Caplan focused on community association law which is highly relevant to the Community Council, an organization of homeowners associations and condo associations.
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Caplan practices with Sachs Sax Caplan, a medium-sized law firm with its main office in Broken Sound. Maybe it’s just this morning, but they have what is quite possibly the slowest website we’ve seen in a long time.

West Boca Deals with the Marlins

marlins-320The West Boca Chamber has worked out two deals with the Miami Marlins for upcoming games in June.
First, there’s a Father’s Day special:

Join the Chamber for a fun filled day on Sunday, June 15th wt 10:00 am, as we travel to the ball park having lunch together on the bus and then enjoying an exclusive tour of the park before settling in for a Marlins game vs. the Pirates. All this for $49.00/pp.

marlins-logoYou can buy tickets for that on the West Boca Chamber event page.
Also, later that week they’ll have another special – for adults 21+ only:

Join the Chamber on Thursday, June 19th at 5:00 pm for Cocktails on the bus, then watching the Marlins vs. the Mets from the exclusive Clevelander Club, while enjoying appetizers and cocktails. For just $50.00/pp it is a perfect adult night out.

Again, you can buy your ticket on the Chamber event page.
They’re not sold out yet but it’s a good idea to contact the Chamber soon to book your spot just in case.