Skip to main content

My First Impressions with Walmart Airport Decor

I recently went into my first Walmart with Airport decor,  and here's my first impressions of it.
The Walmart I went to, located at Dixie and Dundas in Mississauga, opened in March of 2013 with Project Impact. In Summer of 2021, the store started to remodel. At first I thought they were going to get the same package as the Dufferin Mall store. When I walked in today, I was surprised to see the full US version of Airport. When I went, they were just wrapping up the remodel.
The Canadian division was previously using their own decor package based on Bogle with custom elements for grocery and light-up signs. That's all gone now as for the first time since Cheap Impact(which was rarely used in Canada), Walmart Canada is using the exact same decor package as the US division with minor localization changes.

Impressions

The following are my mostly positive impressions and observations on the Airport decor.
  • The outside is using the old blue, yellow and grey scheme, which has been the standard exterior paint scheme since 2015
  • Pick up sign on the outside is still orange instead of blue
  • Entries are unlabeled (don't know if this will be added)
  • The overhead signs are huge
  • GM wall Signs are cheaper than the old package
  • Goosenecks are black with Bogle font compared to being Blue in earlier Airport remodels
  • Toys got moved in the back left instead of by seasonal (standard layout since circa 2019)
  • Paper and Cleaning is its own department now
  • Pets is in grocery now
  • Grocery is now using the Triple number scheme like the US stores despite the rest of the Aisles not having the letter/number toppers (not sure if they are going to be added). Earlier remodels used standard numbering
  • Price signs are the same as the previous package but with slightly different font
  • Individual aisle toppers are absent compared to earlier versions of Airport
  • Books and Magazines/Party is at the front now

Overall, Airport is one of Walmart's better decor packages with the Grocery decor looking stunning, but some aspects of it could have been better such as the build quality of some signs and the addition of more wall decor on the GM side.

Side note, I've rebranded the blog to Southern Ontario Retail Blog (SORB) because it sounds unique and makes my coverage area more clear.

Until next post, Dom


Comments

  1. Interesting to hear this décor is going to be used in Canada now too. I'm glad you got a mostly positive impression of it, I like it as well from what I've seen.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

RULES: Comments are subject to approval before showing up. Please stay on topic and be civil.

Popular posts from this blog

Store Facts: No Frills Dixie Outlet Mall

I’m starting a new series called store facts where I talk about the history of a particular location of a chain, the layout of the store and some key points about the location. I’ll be talking about the No Frills located at Dixie outlet Mall in Mississauga. This location has an interesting past as it was previously a Knob Hill Farm Food Terminal. If you are not familiar with that chain, you can view my post here . Background This location originally opened as a two-level Knob Hill Food Terminal, which was down sized a few years after it opened. Knob Hill closed down all their stores in 2001 and Loblaws brought a couple of the stores and some, like this one were converted to a No Frills franchise in 2001. I’m not too sure which decor this store had originally, but I’m guessing Smile, which it had until 2016 when it was renovated Very yellow. The store was then refreshed with the Monochrome revision of “Very yellow” in 2018. Layout Here’s a rough map of the store that I'v...

165 The Source stores to re-brand as Best Buy Express

Best Buy Express Logo  Image Credit: Best Buy Back in January of this year, Bell announced a partnership with Best Buy to convert 165 The Source locations to the Best Buy Express banner by the end of this year with locations that do not get converted closing. For those who don't know, The Source started out as the Canadian branch of RadioShack before being acquired by Circuit City in 2005 and being rebranded to The Source by Circuit City. Then in 2009, Bell acquired the chain and re-named it The Source. Some The Source locations in the blog’s coverage area are running a pre-renovation sale, so I assume that’s in preparation for the conversion to Best Buy Express. It will be interesting to see how these stores will look like in person. The first location in Surrey BC opened today according to a  press release.  According to the one image at that link, it looks largely the same as a typical remodeled The Source location, just with Best Buy branding just as I predicted....

Walmart store Number Meanings

Ever wondered what each of the store numbers that are on the top of Walmart receipts mean? These store numbers identify each Walmart store internally and seem to have a common pattern based on when each store was planned/opened. Here’s a list of the store numbers Walmart currently uses in Canada and what they mean. Note that they may be anomalies to this rule and stores may not follow these “rules”.  Last updated June 20 th , 2020. Store number Meaning 3xxx 1990s built store. Also used on former Woolcos. 10xx Usually used for 2000s stores. 11xx Early 2010s stores. 12xx Mid 2010s stores. If you have anything to add to this list, please let me know in the comments. Side note: I'll be switching to my summer posting schedule of 2 posts a month from July 1st till September 1st. Until the next one: DZ