SEQUIM — Many thought it may never arrive.
Some hoped it wouldn’t.
But the long-awaited grand opening of Sequim’s new Wal-Mart store is scheduled to happen Wednesday morning.
“It should be a really exciting time, and I’m trying to see if I can clear my calendar to get up there,” said Eric Berger, public affairs specialist for Wal-Mart’s Puget Sound region.
The excitement begins at 7:30 a.m.
Store employee Lee Mosely will sing the national anthem.
Sequim Mayor Walt Schubert will join Wal-Mart officials in making opening remarks.
Corporate representatives will announce a series of grants it will give to local organizations.
Through its “Good Works” community involvement program, Wal-Mart will award $18,500 to community and government organizations such as Sequim Food Bank, Sequim Police Department, Clallam County Fire District No. 3 and schools within the Sequim School District.
Healing wounds
The company hopes such philanthropy will heal some wounds that surfaced during a yearlong fight to operate in Sequim at all.
The 113,000-square-foot store, managed by Raul Ruiz, will initially employ about 300 people.
Three-quarters of those will work full time.
In its application documents, Wal-Mart indicated it plans to expand the Sequim location into a “supercenter,” with a full grocery department and several service departments added at a later date.
Corporate officials said they studied the consumer base in Sequim and set operating hours they thought would serve it well: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.