Walmart Is Opening 25+ New Stores This Year—And They’re Not What You Expect

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At the beginning of this year, Walmart laid out its ambitious plan to remodel 650 stores across the U.S. by the end of 2024. The company also committed to building or converting 150 stores over the next five years. But Walmart’s growth strategy doesn’t stop with its big box stores—it recently announced that it’s opening new health centers and grocery stores across the country and adding in-store fast-casual restaurants.

RELATED: These Are All the Walmart Locations Closing in 2024 .

The first bit of news from Walmart corporate comes after the company closed all 51 of its doctor-staffed Walmart Health centers in April 2024. According to USA Today , the health centers—which were predominantly located in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Texas, and Illinois and provided low-cost services—closed due to “rising operations costs and reimbursement challenges.”

However, it was recently announced that some of these shuttered locations will be reopened as senior primary care centers through a partnership with the health insurance company Humana. According to a press release , CenterWell Senior Primary Care and Conviva Care Centers will open at 23 Walmart Supercenters in Florida (specifically the Tampa/St. Petersburg, Orlando, and Jacksonville areas); the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area; Kansas City, Missouri; and the Dallas/Forth Worth, Texas metropolitan area. They’re expected to open by the first half of 2025.

“CenterWell is committed to providing seniors with high quality health care that is accessible, comprehensive, and most of all, personalized. We are excited by the unique opportunity to lease space from a world-class community partner such as Walmart and offer seniors in these four states greater access to our integrated approach to care,” Sanjay Shetty , MD, president of CenterWell, said in the press release.

He continued, “These nearly two dozen primary care centers are specifically designed for seniors, and each location’s design, including dedicated entrances and easy parking, offers patients the access that they have come to expect at our clinics across the nation. We are eager to expand on our mission to help patients lead happier, healthier lives.”

RELATED: Walmart’s Newly Rebranded Clothing Line Is “Giving Aritzia” for Under $15, Shoppers Say .

Walmart is also opening new Neighborhood Market locations. These grocery stores are typically smaller than Walmart Supercenters, but as part of the company’s overall growth plan, new Neighborhood Markets will be larger and stock more food offerings.

According to a Walmart announcement , the first two new Neighborhood Markets will open in the Dune Lakes area of Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, and the Vine City neighborhood of Atlanta. They’ll both be 57,000 square feet, which is approximately “17,000 square feet larger than the average Neighborhood Market.”

“Customers will see the biggest gains in our Fresh departments. There will be more to choose from in bakery, produce, meat and dairy,” reads the announcement. “Plus, the expanded service deli will offer more hot case options.”

Other changes include wider aisles, additional pickup and delivery space, and a Health Services Room adjacent to the pharmacy where customers can have privacy during vaccinations and consultations.

Finally, Walmart is in the process of adding in-store fast-casual dining options through a partnership with Crave Hot Dogs & BBQ. As Grocery Dive reported, these will be known as Walmart Crave and will be open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Menu items include hot dogs, barbeque sandwiches, and desserts, all of which can be ordered in-store or through the Crave app, Grubhub, or DoorDash.

Previously , Walmart announced that the chain Mr. Gatti’s Pizza would open 92 locations in Walmart stores. And in early 2024, outposts of Uncle Sharkii Poke Bar and Wetzel’s Pretzels began opening within Walmart locations.

Iconic Department Store Century 21 Is Reopening Next Week

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READ THIS NEXT: Tuesday Morning Is Going Out of Business and Closing All Stores .

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Century 21 had a humble beginning, with just a small storefront on Cortlandt Street in New York, according to Forbes . The discount department store expanded over time and became a popular destination for shoppers to score significant savings on high-fashion items. But despite managing to stand the test of time for nearly 60 years, COVID forced Century 21 out of business.

When the pandemic started, the retailer had 13 stores spread throughout New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Florida, with new locations under development on Long Island and at the massive American Dream mall in New Jersey. But in Sept. 2020, Century 21 announced that it would be closing all of its stores and going out of business after failing to secure an insurance payment to protect against financial losses.

All of the Century 21’s retail locations closed before the start of 2021. But now, three years later, the company is finally ready to make its comeback.

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Century 21 didn’t stay down for long. Just two months after closing its last few remaining stores, the company had already started teasing a potential return.

“Never count out a New Yorker,” Century 21 said in a Feb. 2021 press release , explaining that it would revive its brand that year with the opening of its first global store in South Korea. At the time, the retailer indicated that it would also be relaunching its brand in New York at some point down the line.

It took over a year before Century 21 officially announced its return to the U.S.

“Once a New Yorker, always a New Yorker,” the retailer said in a May 2022 press release , confirming that it would bring back its flagship location across from the World Trade Center. The company confirmed that the reopening would occur sometime in spring 2023—and now, shoppers are just days away from getting to set foot in this iconic department store again.

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We finally have an official date for the return of the first Century 21 store in the U.S. since 2020, and it’s just around the corner.

A spokesperson for the company told Crain’s New York that Century 21’s flagship store in the Financial District will hold its grand reopening on May 16. This location was originally expected to open its doors on April 25, but it remained closed to the public through the end of the month, according to the newspaper.

Best Life reached out to Century 21 to get insight on why the reopening was pushed back, and we will update this story with their response.

But May 16 is looking like a done deal, as the company has confirmed this reopening date on its official website .

“We are back! The opening you’ve been waiting for is here,” Century 21’s home page states. “Our doors at our flagship location are officially opening on Tuesday, May 16 at 12 p.m. We can’t wait for you to see what we have in store.”

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Customers shouldn’t expect the flagship Century 21 location to look exactly the way it did before the pandemic, however. The revived department store is expected to cover a total of 100,000 square feet, which is only about half the size of its former store, according to The Tribeca Trib .

But Century 21 has already been advertising a “revitalized shopping experience” for customers after partnering with retail operations company Legends Hospitality for its relaunch.

“As a result of this partnership, Century 21 will be introducing a more streamlined customer shopping experience through in-store upgrades and an elevated, e-commerce presence, which will debut at the same time the brick and mortar store opens its doors,” the retailer said in its 2022 release. “The re-opened Cortlandt Street location will span the four main floors of the original downtown space and will offer men’s, women’s and children’s designer apparel, footwear, outerwear, handbags, accessories, and fragrances.”