This store was built in the mid-2010s as part of the Tsawwasen Mills mall development across the street. This is the only Canadian Walmart I've done a full tour of, and the only one that I've visited that was actually built by Walmart, since most of their Vancouver-area stores are former Zellers/Target locations. Despite that, it looks nothing like what I'm used to at their US locations, outside or in!
I've only been to one Walmart in Canada, the Walmart Supercentre in Pincher Creek, AB, and even that was 8 years ago. At the time, it felt a bit more like a modern US Walmart than what Walmarts felt like in the US at the time in terms of austere decor and fixtures. It also felt like it was about 2/3rds the size of a US Walmart Supercenter. It was relatively clean and quiet in the Pincher Creek Walmart, but then Pincher Creek is a small town so maybe comparing it to the big city Walmarts I'm used to in the US isn't a fair comparison. I almost never visit Walmart on vacation. Aside from that Canadian one, the last one I visited on vacation was probably in Florida in 1997!
ReplyDeleteThis store definitely fits those descriptions! I do think this store's decor package was an inspiration for Airport decor, but it's quite a bit blander in many ways. At around 100,000 sf, it's definitely a good bit smaller than the typical American Walmart, though Vancouver-area Walmarts vary wildly in size since so many of them were taken over from other chains.
DeleteWhen I used to do road trips, I would often stop at Walmarts to get food or other supplies. Of course, that's because I would normally stay at places with a kitchen so I could make food myself instead of going to restaurants. I wouldn't bother stopping at Walmarts otherwise, unless they were something I wanted to put on the blog!