Walmart Canada announced last Thursday, January 30, that over the next five years, it will build dozens of new stores and sell its fleet business.
In a press release published by the mentioned company, it was noted that the specified actions will help accelerate the brand’s rise. In this case, the expected growth in Canada is implied.
Gui Loureiro, regional chief executive officer, of Walmart Canada, Chile, Mexico, and Central America, stated that the firm is currently on an ambitious growth path to serve even more Canadian consumers better or in a different way than ever before. He also noted that the investments worth $6.5 billion are the largest that the company has made in expanding its presence since it began operations in the mentioned country 30 years ago.
The brand’s press release contains information that the new stores will include five new Supercenters, which will open by 2027, and a new distribution center, which will open in the spring of the current year. The firm also intends to modernize its existing distribution centers.
The company’s press release also contains information according to which Walmart Canada has signed an agreement to sell its fleet business to fleet services provider Canada Cartage.
Matt Kelly, vice president of supply chain, at Walmart Canada, stated that through Canada Cartage, the firm can serve customers even better and more flexibly, providing fleet employees with exciting growth opportunities in one of the largest and most trusted supply chain service providers in the country.
Canada Cartage noted in its press release that the mentioned agreement will allow Walmart Canada to focus on expanding its stores and supply chain. The company also stated that in this case, it will be able to strengthen its fleet outsourcing capabilities.
Canada Cartage will operate fleet as a dedicated operation — ensuring business continuity for Walmart Canada while building its reputation as a trusted provider in the dedicated transportation area. The deal between the two companies is expected to be finalized within a few weeks.
It is worth mentioning that in 2020, Walmart Canada announced an investment of $3.5 billion. As part of the plans to use this financing, the company stated its intention to modernize more than 180 stores, and open four new stores and five new distribution centers.
According to the information contained in the press release, Walmart Canada currently has more than 400 stores nationwide, more than 100,000 associates, and an online store that is visited by more than 1.5 million customers daily.
It is worth noting separately that nowadays Walmart is also expanding its presence in the United States. In January 2024, the company announced its intention to build or convert more than 150 stores and remodel another 650 stores across the US over the next five years. These plans indicate that the brand’s physical presence network continues to be of great importance, despite the active and accelerating development of the e-commerce area, which involves scaling virtual trading platforms.
As we have reported earlier, Walmart Sells JD.com Shares.
