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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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:
And people were pouring into the store:
Here are a few more pictures from inside, and some videos of the event:
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.
