Wal-Mart has been growing its presence in Canada for many years now, continually seizing new commercial real estate “CRE” opportunities in the country. Wal-Mart Canada portfolio seems to be growing every day, with new brick-and-mortar and online stores popping up to bring unique experiences to customers.
Its new distribution centre located in Vaughan, Ontario, is another addition to its chain of more than 400 stores across Canada.
Breaking Ground with Condor Properties
To bring this new project to life, Wal-Mart Canada has joined forces with Condor Properties, a Vaughan-based real estate developer. The company’s portfolio counts for more than 100 real estate properties in Greater Toronto and surrounding areas.
The two partners ground-breaking ceremony for their new 550,000 ft2 Vaughan distribution centre just occurred in August 2020 and the project is expected to provide hundreds of jobs for local construction workers to build the facility and once the project opens there will many more new retail jobs to be filled.
The store location is at 11110 Jane Street. This is where customers will be able to shop for various food products and general merchandise. More than 70 million products on the shelves will come from over 3,000 renowned suppliers, which is more than any other Wal-Mart’s distribution centre in Canada offers.
Horacio Barbeito, the CEO and president of Wal-Mart Canada, expressed his excitement about the project at the ceremony, saying: “These are challenging times for everyone, but we are investing for growth because we believe in Ontario and Canada’s future are proud to do business in this great country.”
The project is slated for completion by 2024.
Other Wal-Mart Canada’s Investments
Wal-Mart is set to build many other distribution centres across Canada, some of which are already underway.
The centre in Surrey, British Columbia, is another grand project that will provide Wal-Mart’s products on 300,000 square feet of space.
As for the Wal-Mart distribution centre, like the one in Cornwall, Ontario; there are plans to renovate it. The new and improved centre will have more advanced automated systems for managing general merchandise, health and beauty products, and apparel.
Retail investment of $3.5 Billion will benefit Canada
A month ago, Wal-Mart Canada announced its five-year investment plan worth a whopping $3.5 billion to help Canada grow and prosper.
The plan includes constructing more distribution centres and upgrading more than 150 of its existing facilities to bring better shopping experiences to Canadian consumers.
Its brick-and-mortar stores will be made smarter through digitization, and they’ll have bigger self-checkouts. They’ll also offer merchandise pick-up services, as well as hybrid locations for faster pickup and delivery.
Additionally, the stores will employ robotics and computer vision cameras to reduce touch points and increase efficiency and accuracy.
Summary
Canada, and especially Ontario, offers considerable potential in retail commercial real estate, recognized by many investors like Wal-Mart. As Wal-Mart’s Canadian portfolio continues growing, the country’s consumers will have faster and more enjoyable shopping experiences – both in-store and online.
The retail company will also make full use of technology to enhance Canada’s future growth, partnering with a number of high-tech companies in the country.