LITTLE ROCK — Wal-Mart Canada said Tuesday that it will open 47 hiring centers across that nation as it seeks to fill an anticipated 4,000 new jobs, a move that’s driven in part by the company’s purchase last year of leasehold rights of 39 former Zellers Inc. stores.
The company, a division of Bentonville-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc., cited “unprecedented growth” as it aims to complete 73 projects by Jan. 31. Those projects include new stores in addition to expanded, remodeled or relocated stores.
Alex Roberton, a spokesman, said Wal-Mart Canada will invest about $586 million to complete the projects.
Roberton said the company hopes to rehire many of the Zellers employees.
“Absolutely, we really want to hear from them. They know a lot of the customers already shopping [in] the stores,” he said.
The company anticipates reopening 39 of the former Zellers locations by the end of Wal-Mart’s fiscal year Jan. 31, he said. Also by that date, Wal-Mart Canada expects to employ 94,000.
Wal-Mart Canada said that, this year to date, it has hired 900 new employeesand plans to add 3,100 new positions.
“We are extremely excited to be adding more than 4,000 new associates to our team,” Bob Hakeem, senior vice president for people at Wal-Mart Canada, said in a news release.
Roberton said Wal-Mart is about halfway through its expansion plan for stocking groceries in its existing and recently acquired Canadian stores. Zellers, which has closed many of its stores, uses a general merchandise format and is part of Hudson’s Bay Co.
Wal-Mart has stores in all Canadian provinces.
Wal-Mart is not alone in expanding north of the U.S. border. Target, Home Depot, Costco and Best Buy are among the U.S.-based companies with operations inCanada.
“Canada still represents the easiest international move for American business. Despite the challenges finding space and several operational differences that Canadian markets entail, in the eyes of an American retailer, Canada’s retail sector has ample room to grow,” Colliers International said in a recent report on the nation’s retail sector.
While the United States has an oversupply of shopping center space in the current economy, the report said, productivity in Canadian shopping malls was nearly 50 percent higher than in the U.S on a sales per square foot basis, the report said.
Wal-Mart’s stock closed Tuesday at $68.58, up 40 cents, or 0.6 percent, from Monday and near its high for the year. It has traded between $48.31 and $68.66 in the past year.
Business, Pages 25 on 06/27/2012