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18 NWA Democrat-Gazette Walmart Shareholders Thursday, May 31, 2018 capabilities if it is to remain a contend- er against Amazon and lead the pack against all the rest," Spieckerman said. "Walmart no doubt hopes that baskets well above $30 will dominate but either way, quick expansion will bring new in- sights into the economics." Groceries are key to Walmart's suc- cess with about 56 percent of its U.S. revenue coming from grocery sales. Walmart has focused on improving the freshness and quality of its assortment the past several years, while aggressively lowering prices on items and rolling out convenience-based services like its on- line grocery pickup for customers. The company has its pickup pro- gram available at 1,200 locations across the U.S. and plans to extend it to about 2,200 by the end of the year, according to Ward. He also said Tuesday that the company currently employs more than 18,000 personal shoppers with additional hires planned as both grocery pickup and delivery services are rolled out to a larger audience this year. Uber will continue to be one of the delivery providers, but Ward indicated Walmart will work with other compa- nies as well. He did not specify which companies will be involved in the ex- pansion and said Walmart will "continue to understand how that is going to look over the next 12 months." Grocery pickup and delivery services are a big part of Walmart's plan to grow its e-commerce business as well after U.S. online sales decelerated to 23 per- cent in the fourth quarter. Despite the slowed growth, executives have reiterat- ed their forecast for 40 percent growth during the fiscal year. "We're going to continue to look for ways to utilize our stores and our e-commerce teams together and our businesses together because we believe long-term that's where we win as a com- pany, is getting those two things in sync," Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs told investors during a presentation at the Raymond James Institutional Investors conference last week. Delivery v Continued from Page 6 Walmart Inc. is moving forward with plans to build a new home office in Ben- tonville, replacing a building that has been the hub of the retailer's operations since 1971. The new headquarters will be on 350 acres on the east side of J Street between Central Avenue and Arkansas 102 near downtown Bentonville, according to the company. It will replace the current home office, which is less than two miles away on the corner of Southwest Eighth Street and Walton Boulevard. A spokesman said Walmart is in the early phases of planning and designing the project and estimates a five- to sev- en-year timeline for completion. An esti- mated cost has not yet been established, according to the retailer. "We've been here in Northwest Ar- kansas for over 50 years, and we're pre- paring now to cement the roots for the next 50-plus years," Walmart spokesman Randy Hargrove said. Walmart's current home office op- erations consist of more than 20 build- ings spread throughout Bentonville. The company said one of the primary pur- poses for building a new headquarters is to consolidate more of those operations to a centralized campus to improve col- laboration and efficiency. When announcing the plan to em- ployees last summer, Walmart Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon de- scribed the current setup as a "patch- work" of buildings. "Many of these facilities, including the current Home Office, are signifi- cantly beyond their shelf life," McMil- lon wrote in a memo to employees. "They are expensive and inefficient to maintain, costing millions of dollars of accelerating upkeep every year. And be- cause they are so dispersed, they literally encourage us to work in silos and cause us to waste time and energy traveling between locations, many of which have inadequate parking options." Walmart intends to shift most of its home office workers onto the central campus. Sam's Club will retain its cur- rent headquarters, which is farther south in Bentonville off Moberly Lane near In- terstate 49. Analysts believe that the new head- quarters will help the company remain competitive in attracting workers in a retail environment changing rapidly be- cause of technology. "Walmart realizes that working envi- ronment is an important draw or turn- off, particularly when it comes to recruit- ing tech talent, and that these candidates aren't just needed in California," said Carol Spieckerman, a retail consultant and president of Spieckerman Retail in an email. "The promise of a new building may even help Walmart retain existing talent, but it will also draw a stark con- trast to the legacy buildings." Mervin Jebaraj, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, said tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook all have impressive campuses. Jebaraj said Walmart will benefit from a new home office as well. "To be able to hire the best workers you also need to provide them with more than just money, like a really nice office space to work in. A modern office build- ing to work in," Jebaraj said. "If you com- bine that with everything else Walmart and the Walton Family Foundation is do- ing in the region to improve the quality of life, those things go hand in hand in recruiting the best and the brightest to work here." County property records and the city's geographic information system show that Walmart owns nearly 400 acres south of East Central Avenue, north of Southeast 14th Street, east of Southeast J Street and west of Interstate 49, an area that is roughly 720 acres. Much of that land already has Walmart buildings on it, including the David Glass Technology Center, the Sam M. Walton Development Complex, the Walton Life Fitness Center and a distri- bution center. The company bought several nearby residential properties and a few com- mercial properties nearby over the past few years. A couple of the most recent are unde- veloped properties along Phyllis Street north of Southeast 14th Street and just west of Interstate 49. Walmart bought two tracts of land, one 1.99 acres and the other 5.22 acres, for $1.55 million each from HCB LLLP in March 2017, accord- ing to county property records. A couple neighborhoods create a pen- insula from Southeast 14th Street north into the Walmart-owned land. Several neighborhoods sit northeast between Wal-Mart's land and I-49. A groundbreaking date has not been set, but construction will be completed in phases. Hargrove said the costs asso- ciated with the project will be part of the company's annual budgeting process. The campus will include features like improved parking, meal services, natural lighting, a new fitness center and close proximity to the community trail system. A new fitness center will be one of the first phases of the project, Hargrove said. Walmart already has several buildings located on the tracts of land designated for the campus, but many of those will need to be removed, according to the company. Walmart said it will address those details as plans are finalized and will make sure the new home office "integrates well with our surrounding neighbors." Walmart to build new headquarters in Bentonville NWA Democrat-Gazette File Photo Walmart Inc. is planning on building a new headquarters building on the east side of J Street between Central Avenue and Arkansas 102 near downtown Bentonville. The new site is less than 2 miles away from the home office on the corner of Southwest Eighth Street and Walton Boulevard. The company has not set a timeline for the project. ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE See HEADQUARTERS, Page 26