Boone’s Walmart Supercenter held its partial grand re-opening ceremony Friday morning at 8 a.m. after it temporarily closed due to the damage caused by Hurricane Helene. The renovated store currently offers general merchandise and all dry grocery items.
Walmart is expected to completely re-open all departments mid-February 2025.
Store Manager Joshua Daniels said the bakery, deli, dairy and refrigerated sections are not yet open. New renovations include “elevated brands of apparel” and “the best of the best technology and merchandising Walmart can offer.”
The front end of the store now features 15 manned-registers as opposed to their previous nine. Self-checkout remains by both entrances to the building.
The ceremony began with a prayer lead by Michael Ricker from Belview Baptist Missionary Church in Cranberry. Afterward, the Watauga High School ROTC presented colors and attendees recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Several guest speakers spoke about the hardship Walmart faced alongside the community in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
Regional Vice President Jason Schwindt thanked Walmart staff alongside community leaders for their resilience amidst Hurricane Helene. He also emphasized the aid Walmart provided to the community during Boone’s recovery process, such as laundry services, showers, food and water.
“Customers that are in here, I want to appreciate your patience from the community,” Schwindt said. “Understand that we have a lot to offer in the new store, whether it’s a new checkout experience, what you’ll find in our health and wellness area, as well as a reinvented apparel.”
Schwindt said Walmart will return with a “full assortment of perishable goods” and asked customers to be patient during that process.
Boone Police’s Community Liaison Officer Kat Eller reflected on her experience with Walmart employees during the storm.
“I got a phone call during the store from Jennifer Campbell and she said ‘Kat just to let you guys know, we’re okay,’” Eller said. “‘We’re sitting on top of the registers and we’re fine. We got about two feet of water in here, but we’re alright.’”
Town of Boone Mayor Tim Futrelle also spoke at the ceremony. He thanked service workers and staff for their effort in reopening Walmart and said this reopening event is a start to “put the pieces of our community back together.”
“This is actually a great day for Boone because this shows that we’re well on our way, right?” Futrelle said. “We are getting ourselves back together. We are putting the pieces back together and our community is starting to take shape again, and I’ll tell you, it couldn’t be more timely.”
Walmart officially announced and distributed grants to organizations that aided in hurricane relief. Organizations included Special Olympics Watauga County, Casting Bread Food Pantry, WAMY Community Action, Neighbors Helping Neighbors and Rick Shipman Construction.
Daniels said Walmart is a “people centered business” and they have “265 of the best people you could find working at this store.” He said partners helped with the heavy lifting necessary to reopen the store.
“We took this time during the storm and while the store was closed to evaluate all the traits in the store and exactly the merchandise we were selling to make sure that the assortment is specific to Boone and exactly what our customers need,” Daniels said. “We’re just extremely happy to serve the needs of our customers and get customers back in the building.”
The ceremony was attended by staff, customers and community members. The event lasted approximately an hour.
“Somebody asked me earlier, if I was surprised at the turnout from this community, at 8 in the morning the Friday before Christmas,” Daniels said. “And I told them ‘absolutely not.’ We’ve got the best customer service and best associates in retail. And just in reflection, I think I’m incredibly lucky to be working for Walmart.”
