A Behind the Scenes Look at the Milford, PA Walmart Grand Re-opening

On a Friday morning at the end of October, after nearly two months of work behind the scenes, the Walmart Supercenter serving Westfall and Milford, PA, is set for its "Grand Re-opening."

Rocco Fasulo, the stores gregarious General Manager opens the festivities at 7:39 am, to a crowd of mostly employees and parents of the local elementary school band. John Paul Jones, Jr., an Assistant Manager at Store 2064, leads the pledge of allegiance. Teresa Cody sings the National Anthem. And Pastor Neil says the invocation prayer.

Mr. Fasulo speaks of the changes made to the store for the benefit of the customers. It is cleaner, brighter, more center aisle space. He announces proudly that not only has Walmart brought back many items customers had been asking for over the past 12 months, he heralds the return of lay-a-way, which has been absent in Walmart stores for five years. The General Manager introduces several "associates" that have been with the store since it opened in 1993. Then he brings up several associates and managers who are carrying oversized checks, as he calls out who the store is donating money to, a proud Walmart tradition. He speaks of the employees of the store (440 local residents) and the corporate remodel team that has made the changes over the past several weeks. (In truth, it was slightly longer.)

The ceremonial ribbon cutting is handed to Ms Robin Hashagen, the "#1 Associate,# who was the first hire back in 1993.

Finally, Mr. Fasulo and the Walmart crew end with their daily cheer (at staff meetings everyday), a tradition that Sam Walton introduced the first days of the first store to instill pride, enthusiasm and a reminder of who is important - the customer. The cheer of "give me a W . . ." led by employee Sherri Yeager, resounds dully in the large space near the Bakery area. But enthusiasm is high. There is coffee, cake, tea and cider. The children pack up, the Marines head out, the employees return to work.

But for such a simple ceremony, Walmart has been in the planning for months. Starting with the corporate facilities management team who decide which stores to revamp, which to close and which to gut and start anew. Then the managers go to the store and look over what needs to be done. After the plans are drawn up, they are sent to the Regional Field Project Manager. In this case, Shannon Argy.

Ms Argy gathers her regional team of on-site supervisors; Monna Becker, Chris Zimmerman, Jarra Johnson, Lynn Calder and Paul Labier. These are team leaders from Walmart stores throughout the region. Ms Becker is from a store in Baltimore, Ms Johnson from one in Virginia. The others from stores in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey.

Once they meet with the Project Manager, they plan how to attack the changes made in order to meet the deadline of the Grand Re-Opening. Temporary workers from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York are brought in through an agency (in this case, Adecco out of Goshen, NY).

And the work begins in earnest. On September 5 ^th , a full seven and a half weeks before the Grand Re-Opening date that has been reset twice during the remodel, workers show up and meet the remodel team.

Whole aisles are moved with attachable wheels, power equipment and plain brute force. Shelves are cleaned, repaired or just plain discarded and replaced. Starting in the pharmacy and HBA (Health and Beauty Aids) sections, the crews working during the evening hours begin revamping the guts of the store that have neither been seen nor touched for five or six years. Wax buildup under the shelves and kick plates has to be pried, scraped and cleared away. Product that has fallen between the cracks, old sale signage and UPC codes all need to be removed and discarded. Moving on to pet food, automotive (including the Tire and Lube Express (TLE) areas, toys, electronics, shoes, children and adult apparel, and grocery, the teams of temporary workers pour over the store for more than a month.

Each day the remodel teams look over schedules, make modifications to plans and prepare for the evening's activities. Each night new issues crop up that have to be dealt with that delay or change plans. Old pegboards that were not previously part of the listed items crack or slide past old frames now have to be replaced. Teams within teams have to be set up to act as trouble shooters, identifying and fixing these unexpected problems. All the while, late night shoppers have to be accommodated, as well as the regular night shift of dedicated Walmart Associates (who are busy trying to keep the shelves stocked for the customer).

And these temporary workers all come with their own stories and skills and issues that add to the mix. Remodel supervisors like Monna and Jarra, Paul and Chris and Lynn, have to adjust on a daily basis as the Store's general manager and the Project Manager all want updates, keeping the pressure on the group to get the job done. Some of the team from Adecco have been unemployed for a while, others just a few days. Some are doing it as a second job to pay for the holidays. There are young and old, high school grads and college graduates. There are people with other jobs like DJ on the weekends, some with children at home, even a mother and son team. But they all come together to work on helping Walmart maintain a shopper's advantage.

In the end, delays gotten over, last minute problems and personality clashes forgotten, the Delaware Valley Elementary school band plays on, led by Ms Ruth Sweeny. The D/V E News TV crew (consisting of Delaware Valley 6^th graders who produce news broadcast and stories for their school) wave flags as the local US Marine Corps League accept a donation from GM Rocco Fasulo, who thanks all involved, and Sherri leads the Walmart cheer of "who's number one . . . . the customer." And another remodeled retail store is ready for the customers to shop in. They may not readily be able to point out the changes - except maybe notice that there is a whole new modern bike rack for them to chose their purchases from - but in their subconscious, like the behind the scenes work itself, they will "feel" a little better about shopping but won't know why. As they walk down the main aisles and pass a fellow shopper going the other way, they might not notice that they don't have to move aside a little, like they did last week. But they will also not feel crowded and it will leave them in that much better a mood.

The remodel team goes back to their respective stores, the temporary workers from Adecco move on to the next assignment and the customer enjoys their shopping experience a little more.

For more on Yahoo Content, click here .

Be sure to check out my blog.

Whether you like poetry or short-short fiction, be sure to check out my eBooks on Smahswords.

Follow me on Facebook and Twitter.