SPRINGDALE -- Rhonda Whinnery was happy to be back home Thursday morning as she cut the ribbon for the new Sam's Club store.
"I was ready for a new adventure, to come back to where I started," Whinnery said.
Springdale’s Sam’s Club
• Fresh Island offering organic and grass-fed beef.
• Expanded seafood section and fresh sushi made daily.
• Large walk-in dairy and produce coolers designed to keep products as fresh as possible.
• An updated cafe with self-order kiosks, expanded seating with charging stations and an updated menu that includes premium coffee, made-to-order sandwiches and smoothies.
• Pharmacy services as well as a hearing center and optical department.
Source: Staff report
Whinnery started with Sam's Club 30 years ago, hiring on at the Springdale store in August 1987 shortly before it opened. The store closed and moved to Fayetteville in 2007. She helped set up the new store at 1517 S. 56th St., just as she had three decades ago.
She isn't alone in feeling enthusiastic about Sam's return. Springdale city leaders say they are eager to welcome back the strong revenue stream the store brought to the city.
"The people of Springdale have been waiting on this a long, long time," Mayor Doug Sprouse said to the crowd gathered for the club's grand opening. "It's so exciting to see it happen. This is a big, big deal."
Sprouse capped his remarks by shouting, "WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
Perry Webb, president of the city's chamber of commerce, said the store's departure caused a "drastic and significant" loss of sales tax revenue.
Wyman Morgan, administrative and financial services director for the city, said the Springdale Sam's Club generated $1 million in sales tax a year before to its departure. He doesn't know exactly how much money the new store will generate for the city.
"It's a different scenario now. When they left Springdale, they were the only Sam's in Northwest Arkansas; now there are three stores," Morgan said. "I'm hoping it will go back to $1 million, but I don't have any facts or information to base that on. But it will be substantial."
Sam's Club, a division of Wal-Mart, operates stores in Fayetteville and Bentonville. There are 659 clubs in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
Carlos Vazquez was Sam's first customer Thursday. He swiftly picked up one of dozens of watermelons near the registers and made his purchase. Vazquez, a Springdale resident who owns El Chefe Catering, said he loyally shopped at the original Sam's until it moved to Fayetteville.
"I've been going to Bentonville and Fayetteville, but I'm going to be coming here now," Vazquez said.
"The biggest impact is psychological," Webb said. "It's great to be back in the game."
Webb touted the burgeoning overlay district -- the area from Sunset Avenue to Don Tyson Parkway and from I-49 to the western city limits -- which now has Sam's and in early 2018 will include Arkansas Children's Northwest. Melissa Reeves, the city's public relations director, said the district has additional zoning standards designed to create a regional attraction for various uses, including shopping, entertainment, restaurants, offices and residences.
The 139,000-square-foot store has 200 employees and is consistent with the model of Bentonville's enhanced store, which opened in 2006. The new store features Scan & Go, a mobile app allowing customers to scan items while they shop and pay on their cellphone, enabling them to bypass the checkout line and show their digital receipt to an associate when leaving.
Whinnery said she has seen Sam's evolve from a store with dim lighting and plywood walls to a business that continuously features technological innovations. She looks back and remembers the times Sam Walton would show up at the original Springdale store.
"We would be sitting in a circle and he would be down on one knee, talking to us eye-to-eye," Whinnery said. "He was very humble, very caring."
NW News on 05/26/2017