441 – Page 18 – West Boca News

Answers on the West Boca Walmart

Walmart has now responded to our questions we asked about the store they’re reopening as a Walmart Supercenter on the southeast corner of Palmetto Park Road and 441. Maybe it was our anger at their delays that shook the tree, or maybe we overreacted and they were getting us these answers anyway.

Here are their answers, from William Wertz, Director of Communications for Walmart – East:
1. Can you describe how the new store will be different from:
a. The store in that location before it closed; and

The former store was a general merchandise store – which was Walmart’s original format. It did not include the full range of groceries our customers tell us they are looking for. We are adding this component to the remodeled store we are opening.

b. The newer store 2.5 miles south, at Hillsboro and 441.

The store in Coconut Creek was a Supercenter (meaning it had both groceries and general merchandise) from the beginning. The new West Boca store will also be a Supercenter, but not as large as Coconut Creek.

2. You indicate in your last message that the hiring center will open 4-6 months prior to the September opening. But 6 months prior would be in March, and 4 months prior is this month. Can you clarify that?

We still don’t have an exact date for the hiring center to open, but it should be soon. In the meantime, those interested working at the new store can fill out an on-line application.

Although they did not mention it in their answers,
we think this is where you can fill out an online application:
Walmart Online Hiring Center.
3. As I have the details, the West Boca location closed in 2008 and is now reopening roughly 6 years later. In that time Walmart spent roughly $700K in property tax on the location. Can you offer any insight into the business decision-making that went into spending that amount on a closed store? In the same vein, what led to the decision to reopen it? Were there demographic or economic changes in the community that influenced the decision?

The Boca Location is a good one, and we have always intended to re-open this store. A small Supercenter at this location will offer customers the convenience and affordable prices they are looking for.

4. The Coconut Creek location carries ammunition and hunting gear, but no actual firearms. Will the West Boca location also offer those items, and will it sell firearms?

The new West Boca store will NOT carry firearms. It will carry ammunition.

5. Do you think the new West Boca store will reduce business volume at the Coconut Creek store, and if so, by how much?

We expect both stores to do well and would not speculate on the volume of business at either location.

6. We’ve read about Walmart implementing new technologies in some stores to serve customers better. Are there any particular new technologies that will be offered in the new store that are not presently offered in Coconut Creek?

Except for size, the two stores will be similar in the features they offer to customers.

7. A lot of our readers (including myself) are happy about this store reopening because it’s a hassle to drive to the Coconut Creek store and we don’t like the parking lot setup. Had you heard that from West Boca customers and did that play a role in the decision to reopen?

Yes. It is clear that our customers are looking for shopping opportunities that are both affordable and convenient. The new West Boca store will offer easy access and significant savings to many in the area.

The image below shows the location where the West Boca Walmart will be reopening.

Disappointing Response From Walmart

About three weeks ago we got good contact information for the incoming Walmart in West Boca. We sent e-mails to them asking questions about what they’re doing and why.

Update: A number of commenters seem to think we’re anti-Walmart. We’re not. We are Walmart customers and the author of this article often defends Walmart on issues like minimum wage. We are, however, anti-dishonesty.

Our stories have been positive about the reopening. But we’re disappointed that they’re not giving us any answers to our questions. They’re not even telling us they won’t answer. They’re just stalling. Or lying.
They gave us some initial details but not much:

· The store is undergoing a complete interior renovation which will allow it to convert to a 120K Supercenter with a full grocery section; all the renovations are staying within the existing box.
· The store will create 300 new jobs, with a hiring center that will open about 4-6 months prior to the store opening in September 2014.
· The store will offer a full selection of grocery, a deli, bakery and pharmacy.

On May 7th we asked some follow-up questions and were told they’d get back to us in a few days. A week later we noted that it had been more than a few days, and got another vague response the next day: “Sorry for the delay, we are working on getting you these answers!” That was 11 days ago.
Here are the questions we asked:

1. Can you describe how the new store will be different from:
a. The store in that location before it closed; and
b. The newer store 2.5 miles south, at Hillsboro and 441.
2. You indicate in your last message that the hiring center will open 4-6 months prior to the September opening. But 6 months prior would be in March, and 4 months prior is this month. Can you clarify that?
3. As I have the details, the West Boca location closed in 2008 and is now reopening roughly 6 years later. In that time Walmart spent roughly $700K in property tax on the location. Can you offer any insight into the business decision-making that went into spending that amount on a closed store? In the same vein, what led to the decision to reopen it? Were there demographic or economic changes in the community that influenced the decision?
4. The Coconut Creek location carries ammunition and hunting gear, but no actual firearms. Will the West Boca location also offer those items, and will it sell firearms?
5. Do you think the new West Boca store will reduce business volume at the Coconut Creek store, and if so, by how much?
6. We’ve read about Walmart implementing new technologies in some stores to serve customers better. Are there any particular new technologies that will be offered in the new store that are not presently offered in Coconut Creek?
7. A lot of our readers (including myself) are happy about this store reopening because it’s a hassle to drive to the Coconut Creek store and we don’t like the parking lot setup. Had you heard that from West Boca customers and did that play a role in the decision to reopen?
I might think of more questions, but these are a good start. I understand you may not be able to answer all of them, but I’d appreciate anything you can tell me.

We’ve followed up with them twice and we keep getting vague delays. At this point we’ve given up. They’re not going to answer our questions.
If they had just said that it was their business practice not to answer such questions, we could have lived with that. Lying to us is disappointing. And yes, when you tell someone you’ll get them answers in a few days, no answers twenty days later makes it a lie.

Accident on 441: Photos

Yesterday while working on a story about the work at Glades and 441, we heard fire engines. Then we saw the accident that had just happened on 441, mostly in the northbound lanes headed toward Glades Road.

If you look close in the picture above (click on it for a larger view) you can see the Sports Authority sign in the background.

As we understand it, the Infiniti in the center of the above picture was traveling northbound and the other car, with a teenage driver, was coming southbound and attempted to make a left turn or U-turn in front of them. The passenger in the Infiniti appeared to have a leg injury and you can see her on a stretcher to the side of the car. We think the young driver may have been ticketed.

Above is another shot of the scene, taken as the first responders were helping her onto the stretcher.
On the lighter side, as we were walking up to the accident scene we noticed an iguana, which you can see in the lower left of the picture below. The accident is on the far right, and you can also see how it backed up traffic on the left. 441 was limited to just the right lane. Cars were turning into the plaza as a detour.

The iguana can apparently tell I’m a lawyer. As I got closer he ran down the hill and jumped into the water to get away from me.

Glades & 441: What's Going On?

See Update below.

A lot of readers have been asking us what’s going on at the corner of Glades and 441. There’s actually two things going on. As we covered previously, on the northeast corner the Shadowood plaza is adding an outbuilding for a larger Walgreens.
But most people are now asking about the southeast corner. That’s the Westwinds of Boca plaza which has Home Depot and Publix. The red arrow in the picture below points to the area where we all some kind of work going on.

We went over yesterday to take some pictures and ask questions. We don’t have solid answers yet, but here’s what we found.
First of all as you can see in the top panorama picture and from driving by, they’ve erected fencing around the “lake” in the northwest corner of the plaza – close to the intersection of Glades and 441.
Next, here’s a panorama shot from just inside the fence that gives you some perspective:

Basically what you see there is a backhoe, some stone, and some debris all around the lake.
Below is a shot with the backhoe’s scoop in the foreground and you can see the extent of the lake. You can see a bit more of the debris around the lake as well. Glades Road and Shadowood Square are in the far background.

In the last photo we’re posting from the site, you get a better view of the debris.

So what are they doing? We’ve heard all kinds of theories. One person suggested they’re filling in the lake and putting up a steak house. We don’t think that’s credible. But – see update below.
We talked to some of the workers and managers in nearby stores. None of them knew for sure.
We have another theory. We’ve been hearing for some time from reliable sources about problems (mainly littering and drug use) around this lake associated with vagrants, homeless people, and/or the people we see begging at the intersections. The lake was surrounded by a lot of foliage so their activities were hidden. We think they’re removing all of the foliage so the troublemakers won’t be able to hide their “misbehavior” in there.
It’s not really a solution to the problem – they’ll just go somewhere else. But that’s what we think they’re doing.
Workers in the nearby stores agreed that there have been problems consistent with what we heard from our other sources in the past.
Update
After originally writing this article, we got a quick comment and did some research – that we should have done in the first place. There does appear to be a plan to fill in the lake and put in more stores:

We’re not sure if the current work is a precursor to that project, or if it’s somewhere further down the road. Filling in that lake will be a lot of work and require a lot of material.
Further Update
A reader in the comments pointed us to a link from the Army Corps of Engineers that sheds more light.
And another reader pointed us to planning review in Palm Beach County.

Shadowood Adding Walgreens Outbuilding

Shadowood Plaza, on the northeast corner of Glades and 441, has blocked off a huge section of the parking lot on the Glades Road side. With a little research we determined that they’re building a new “outbuilding” in the parking lot, close to Glades in front of where the Walgreens is now, and the building will house a new and larger Walgreens.
Here’s a part of the site plan from Shadowood property manager Terranova. The future outbuilding is highlighted by a yellow rectangle around it at the bottom of the image.

And here’s a close-up showing that portion of the picture, along with the current Walgreens. The blue arrow points to the text showing that they intend to open this new Walgreens in 2015. The yellow arrows point to the square footage of the new and old spaces, showing that the new one will have an additional 3500 square feet. That’s a 27% increase in size.

It looks like the Shadowood parking lot will be getting a little crowded come 2015.