Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Walmart Ready to Reveal New Store to Beebe Shoppers


BEEBE, Ark – A new Walmart will open Friday, Aug. 2, after a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony at 7:30 a.m. The new store at 2003 W. Center St. is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It will provide Beebe residents with one-stop shopping convenience for their grocery and general merchandise needs. The store also offers pharmacy services.

"To look across the intersection of Highway 64 and 67 to what was a grown-up field for so many years and see a new beautiful Walmart building and all the landscaping is very impressive," said Beebe Mayor Mike Robertson. "The City of Beebe is so happy: happy for the job creation to the community, happy for the shopping convenience for the community and very happy about the additional sales tax revenue for the city that will help in so many areas."

One-Stop Shopping Convenience
The store features quality, value-priced general merchandise, including apparel, electronics, toys, sporting goods, and lawn and garden items. It also offers a full line of groceries, including organic and natural selections in addition to local favorites. Some local products available include Yarnell's, Little Debbie and Petit Jean Meats.

The pharmacy offers a full range of products and services. Pharmacy team members can answer product and prescription questions and customers can ask about health and wellness solutions.

Community Giving
The grand-opening celebration also includes presentations of $5,000 in grants from Walmart and the Walmart Foundation to local community groups. Grant recipients include the Beebe Public Library and the Beebe Volunteer Fire Department.

New Store, New Jobs
The new store employs approximately 200 full- and part-time associates. Store manager Tim Hammack began his Walmart career in 1985 after graduating from the University of Arkansas. He first served as an assistant manager at a store in Eldon, Mo. Hammack has been a store manager for more than a decade, working in Walmart stores in Lonoke, Ark., Spearfish, S.D., and Nevada, Mo. He was most recently a market manager in the Jonesboro area.

"My wife and I are excited about settling down in this area. I'm thrilled to be the store manager of this brand new store and can't wait for everyone to see what we have to offer during our grand-opening event," Hammack said. "We welcome the community to enjoy samples, giveaways and entertainment, and to step inside our new store to see the easy-to-shop layout and savings we offer on everyday products."

A Big Family Welcome
Walmart is happy to be part of the Beebe community and is ready to celebrate with residents on Saturday, Aug. 3. A Big Family Welcome will give customers a chance to meet Hammack and enjoy fun family activities such as face painting, cupcake decorating and free food samples while supplies last. Join the celebration from noon to 3 p.m.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

New Walmart Express Store Opens in Coats


A new Walmart Express store will open Wednesday, July 24, in Coats, bringing the community everyday low prices in a smaller format store. The new store is designed to make shopping quick and easy for area customers who want to save money and find what they need close to home, including a gas station. The new Walmart Express store is located at 511 N. McKinley St. at the intersection of Johnson Street.

"The addition of a Walmart Express to our community gives Coats more than a quick place to pick up grocery items or get a prescription filled," said Mayor Walter Weeks. "It will bring jobs for 30 of our citizens and ease the tax burden for all of our residents. And with services like 'Site-to-Store' for our online purchases, this just might make small town life even better!"

The approximately 12,000-square-foot Walmart Express store features a pharmacy and offers groceries and general merchandise, including an assortment of fresh produce, dairy and meats, dry goods, consumables, health and beauty aids, over-the-counter medicines and more.

The pharmacy offers a full range of products and services. Pharmacy team members can answer product and prescription questions, and customers can ask about health and wellness solutions.

Store manager Ray Miller began his Walmart career in 2005, loading trucks at a distribution center in Hope Mills. Miller is an Army veteran, serving 20 years as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division.

"We helped people by saving lives in the military, and now, working within the Coats community serving customers, keeps right in line with serve and protect," Miller said. "We look forward to the community joining us at the grand-opening celebration Wednesday, July 24."

A Big Family Welcome
Walmart is happy to be part of the Coats community and is ready to celebrate with residents on Saturday, July 27. A Big Family Welcome will give customers a chance to meet Miller and enjoy fun family activities such as face painting and free food samples while supplies last. Join the celebration from noon to 3 p.m.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Health Care Without the Doctors Coming to a Walmart Near You

Perched by a computer monitor wedged between shelves of cough drops and the pharmacy in a bustling Walmart, Mohamed Khader taps out answers to questions such as how often he eats vegetables, whether anyone in his family has diabetes and his age. He tests his eyesight, weighs himself and checks his blood pressure as a middle-aged couple watches at the blue-and-white SoloHealth station advertising "free health screenings."

"You may not go to the doctor every year, but you come to Walmart often," says the fit-looking 43-year-old Khader who lives in nearby Ashburn, Va. "I get bored while my wife is shopping. This is a time killer. I'll come back in two months or so, and track my results." A burgeoning consumer health industry is betting that millions of consumers will do just that.

As Americans gain coverage under the federal health law, putting increased demand on primary care doctors and spurring interest in cheaper, more convenient care, unmanned kiosks like these may be part of what their manufacturer bills as a "self-service healthcare revolution."

From SoloHealth's stations, slated to be in 2,500 Walmarts and Sam's Clubs next month, to video consultations with doctors, to smartphone apps that track blood pressure and heart rate, consumer health technology is attracting big-name backers such as retailer Walmart, health insurers Wellpoint and UnitedHealthcare and companies that make or distribute medical products, such as Johnson & Johnson and Cardinal Health.

Walmart's interest is especially significant, given the giant retailer's reach, the growth of its pharmacies and retail medical clinics and a top official's recent statements -- since walked back by the company -- outlining plans for a push into primary care.

Some doctors' groups and consumer advocates urge caution, raising concerns about how companies might use personal health data, the quality of their medical information and whether advertisers and other sponsors might shape their advice and referrals for commercial reasons.

"There is a trend in general by retailers and health insurers to provide 'fluff' to consumers in the guise of real medical information as an advertising delivery device," says Carmen Balber of the left-leaning advocacy group Consumer Watchdog.

Bringing Exam Rooms To Patients

Walmart spokeswoman Danit Marquardt says the placement of SoloHealth stations in many stores is part of the retailer's commitment to "testing new products and services and ways to keep customers healthy."

"We don't have a larger plan for primary care at this time," she added.

But SoloHealth's backers do have larger plans. The Duluth, Ga.-based company aims to expand its kiosk offerings to teach people how to quit smoking, test whether they are at risk for diabetes and even enroll them in health coverage.

Self-serve computer stations are also eyed as a way to help consumers figure out whether they need medications for conditions such as high cholesterol, under a proposal now before the FDA to make some prescription medications over-the-counter. "It is clear there are now many interactive mechanisms that can step the consumer through the process of self-diagnosis and medication selection," said Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at a public hearing last March. The proposal is still under review.

Rival firms are marketing similar technologies. Dublin-Ohio based HealthSpot has enclosed cubicles that allow patients to pay $59 to $79 for a video "visit" with a doctor. NowClinic online, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, provides 10-minute video chats with physicians for $45.

Technology "has become a new arm of the health care delivery system," says Jay Sanders, an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University and CEO of The Global Telemedicine Group, a consulting firm in McLean, Va. "You need to bring the exam room to where the patient is, not where the doctor is."

'Treading A Fine Line'

SoloHealth's founder and CEO Bart Foster saw larger possibilities for automated screening after he began providing Walmart with self-service vision tests as a way to get shoppers from the product aisles to Walmart's optical shops.

In 2010, the firm got a $1.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop new approaches to screening for people in underserved communities. It has also received more than $43 million in investments from computer maker Dell Corp., health insurer WellPoint and Coinstar, maker of the Red Box DVD rental boxes, he says.

Today, SoloHealth's kiosks, which are not connected to a live physician, allow consumers not just to test their eyesight and learn if they are obese, but to get information on diet, vitamins and pain management. A "find a doctor" function can direct users to nearby doctors, although the one in Sterling listed only "optical doctors" -- and those appeared mainly to be Walmart-affiliated.

Foster says SoloHealth has received lists of doctors from sponsors, including Walmart, and also allows doctors to buy a listing. SoloHealth does not do any independent review of doctors' credentials. About 20 to 30 doctors are typically offered.

Among its programs is one that advises those suffering symptoms of heartburn whether it may indeed be heartburn and which over-the-counter product might be useful, says Stephen Kendig, the firm's chief commercial officer.

"We're treading a fine line," Foster says. "We don't want to practice medicine, just educate people."

But such programs raise a red flag for some consumer advocates who worry the "advice" might be an advertisement.

The SoloHealth station in Sterling, Va., for example, runs a video for Healthy Choice yogurt while the blood pressure device inflates. Ads for Nature Made fish oil supplements or Healthy Choice frozen meals appear when consumers respond yes to a written question asking if they want more information about a healthy lifestyle. Others appear for allergy drug Zyrtec and heartburn medication Prilosec.

The ads, which can be targeted to particular consumers based on their answers, are SoloHealth's revenue model. "Reach customers when they are aisles, not miles, away," the firm's message to advertisers on its website says.

Users who enter their email addresses -- and about 18 percent do -- will receive test results, along with information that might include "ask your doctor about this drug" or "pick up some Advil on aisle four," says Foster. Despite those efforts, every one of the five people who used the kiosk in the space of about an hour, including Khader, said they did not notice the advertising.

Privacy Risk?

Consumers Union Senior Attorney Mark Savage says it's a good thing to get people more engaged in their health, but he says the new technology carries potential risks.

"You have a situation where a patient is voluntarily disclosing information, which means there is no privacy protection, generally," Savage says. "They may not know if the information is being kept and might be used weeks or years after."

SoloHealth's Kendig says the firm is not considered a covered entity under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, meaning it is not required to meet the law's privacy standards. If it shares personal health information with insurers or medical providers, then it would need to meet those standards.

All information, except the email addresses, is aggregated and shared with SoloHealth sponsors without personal identifiers, Foster says. Those who leave their email address can track their test results over time and may be sent more information, including newsletters targeted to specific health conditions.

Consumer Khader did not mention concerns about how his information might be stored and used in the future. But he did have one suggestion. Turn the machines so the screen cannot be seen by other customers.

"I would like a little more privacy," he says.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Walmart Announces 10 New Solar Installations In Maryland



Walmart and SolarCity today announced the completion of projects at eight Walmart stores and two Sam’s Clubs across the state of Maryland that will generate clean, renewable electricity. The energy produced by the new solar installations will generate approximately 4.1 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity annually – enough energy to power nearly 370 homes – and are expected to supply between 5-20 percent of each store’s overall electricity use.

"In Maryland, we've set some of the most ambitious goals in the nation for advancing clean renewable energy and creating green jobs," said Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley. "We're helping businesses take advantage of solar incentives so they can save money while embracing the job-creating, planet-saving potential of our green economy. I commend the partnership between SolarCity and Walmart as a significant step forward toward a more sustainable future for generations to come."

“Building a clean energy economy creates new jobs and provides affordable, reliable clean energy choices for businesses,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, director of the Maryland Energy Administration. “The partnership between SolarCity and Walmart shows that we’re taking the right steps.”

With over 13,400 panels, the Walmart stores in Arbutus, Berlin, California, Cockeysville, Fallston, Hagerstown, Laurel and Severn, along with Sam’s Clubs in Salisbury and Severn will provide over 3.1 megawatts (MW) of generation capacity.

“Walmart is a leader in clean energy here in Maryland and across the country,” said SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive. “Walmart is setting an example for companies in Maryland to follow; it’s possible for many Maryland businesses to pay less for solar power than they currently pay for electricity.”

This new series of solar systems in Maryland bring the total number of Walmart and Sam’s Club locations with SolarCity installations to almost 150 across multiple states with additional locations in the works. Last year, SolarCity installed Walmart’s largest solar-power system at its distribution center in Buckeye, Ariz.

“Solar power makes sense for Walmart, and it makes sense for Maryland,” said David Ozment, Walmart’s senior director of energy. “We are committed to increasing the use of renewable energy, including solar panels, at our stores in Maryland and throughout the country.”

In total, Walmart generates more than 1 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity around the world annually. It also has more than 300 renewable energy projects in operation or under development globally. With a goal to be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy, the company is ranked by the United States' Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ‘Green Power Partnership’ program as the largest on-site green power generator in the U.S. Last year, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) ranked Walmart the number one retailer to use solar power in the U.S. Solar energy will continue to play a critical role in Walmart’s renewable energy portfolio and the company aims to install solar on at least 1,000 stores in the U.S. by 2020.