SEQUIM — New floors, signage, displays, a mural and an updated online grocery pickup area are some of the many changes at the 20-year-old Sequim Walmart store.
Employees and community leaders celebrated the completed update of the store at 1110 W. Washington St.
Store coaches, formerly known as assistant managers, said work by Jackson Dean Construction and Walmart Realty Execution team members started in April as crews worked nights through Aug. 2, with a few odds and ends remaining.
“Almost every department was upgraded in one way or another,” store manager Liza Baudais said before a large crowd in the store’s garden section before a ribbon cutting with the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Walmart gave four agencies donations, including $2,500 to both the YMCA of the Olympic Peninsula and Dungeness Valley Health and Wellness Clinic, and $2,000 to both the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula and the Sequim Police Department.
Following the singing of the national anthem by Mary Hailey, Baudais noted that 10 original associates have remained with the store since it opened, and she recognized four staffers who have been with Walmart more than 25 years — including Celena Holm, who started in the former Port Angeles Walmart store 29 years ago before transferring to Sequim in 2004.
“It’s a refreshing look,” Holm said of the remodel. “I’m glad it’s over. It looks very nice.”
Remembering Lynie
Store employees John-Paul and Jessica Davis took time to honor longtime employee Lynie Staus, who died May 1 after a battle with cancer.
“He was a great asset to this company and this community,” John-Paul said, noting Lynie’s kindness, volunteerism and efforts through the Olympic Peninsula Rat Racers.
“He liked talking to people and always had a good attitude and a smile on his face.”
John-Paul said he nicknamed Staus the “King of Sequim.”
The Davises presented Staus’ wife Donna with a Lynie’s work vest in a shadowbox, and they gave the Staus’ granddaughter Jordyn Mancuso-Staus a vest and hat of her own. Jordyn and Donna also were asked to cut the ribbon for the remodel.
Donna Staus said the presentation was a pleasant surprise as John-Paul simply asked her to attend and bring her granddaughter.
“I honestly didn’t expect this,” she said.
Lynie died just shy of his 24th anniversary with the company; he too started in the Port Angeles store before shifting to Sequim to help open the new store.
“He was the 58th associate in the Sequim store,” Donna said.
New mural
Inside the newly remodeled store’s main entrance is a printed mural by artist Amelia Kaiser titled “Spirit of Sequim.”
Kaiser said in a press release that her husband attended church in Sequim and frequently stopped for groceries at the store. The mural features the Olympic Mountains, Roosevelt elk, an elk sign, an eagle, the New Dungeness Lighthouse, lavender and orcas.
Walmart works with public art agency NOW Art to curate art and engage artists across the country. Kaiser worked in partnership with the Walmart Community Mural Program, which seeks original murals for remodeled stores that company officials say reflect “local diversity and cultural references.”
She recently completed a mural for a Walmart in Woodland, according to her Instagram page @Amelia_Kaiser_Art.
Amenities
The Sequim Walmart expanded to become a supercenter in 2012 with a grocery section, deli, bakery and expanded square footage.
During a tour with Keith Hughes, a general merchandise coach, and fellow coach Tina Lewis, they said crews tore up and replaced all of the store’s flooring and had to free up about 3,000 square feet each night by maneuvering rows around.
While sections were being moved to accommodate the work, Hughes said the way the layout appears now is how it will remain.
New signage for departments includes large lettering above areas, such as the Auto Care Center, and in the grocery section.
Lewis said each aisle has labels to help customers better find what they’re looking for.
“It’s going to benefit (customers) better,” she said. “The store is brighter too.”
Clothing racks are new, along with vignettes that display various items, such as a bedroom set.
Added during the COVID-19 pandemic, the online grocery pickup section moved a few weeks ago from the west side of the building to the east side by the auto center.
Checkout stands were redone too, and a grab-and-go section with cold drinks and snacks was placed by the main entrance along with a hot case for in-person and online shoppers.
The remodel also includes updated looks and/or equipment in the auto center, deli, garden center, pharmacy and vision center, staff said.
Walmart added what staff call “digital touchpoints” throughout the store with QR codes and/or digital screens providing options, such as having an item delivered to a customer’s home.
Baudais said Sequim Walmart employs 234 part-time and full-time employees. It is one of 64 Walmart stores in Washington, with 23,000-plus employees statewide, staff said.
For more information, visit walmart.com.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com.
