SPRINGDALE -- Walmart is moving a call center with 700 employees from Bentonville to the former Sam's Club at 2008 S. Thompson St.
The call center building in Bentonville will be razed to make way for the retailer's new headquarters, said Kory Lundberg, a spokesman for Walmart.
Walmart announced in September 2017 it planned to build a new headquarters of 350 acres on the east side of J Street between Central Avenue and Southeast 14th Street near downtown Bentonville. The new office will be less than 2 miles away from the current headquarters on the corner of Southwest Eighth Street and Walton Boulevard.
The Sam's building houses a retail design center, which will move to a new building in Bentonville, he added.
Perry Webb, president of the Springdale Chamber of Commerce, said he expects the center to create a micro-economy in Springdale. Similar "micro-economies" have developed around Tyson Foods' renovated buildings downtown, such as food trucks, restaurants and bars.
"That's 700 people who will be eating lunch every day, going to the doctor, shopping on their lunch hour," Webb said. To put it into perspective, those 700 workers are about two times what the company employees at the supercenter next door, he said.
Webb also expects the call center to add workers as Walmart's online presence grows. "Perhaps those new employees could move to Springdale," he said. "And it's common sense that some of them who work there in Bentonville live here now."
Bentonville Mayor Bob McCaslin said moving the jobs will have no impact on the region, although the Bentonville hospitality industry might lose some money.
"Historically, as changes have been made to [Walmart's] structure and strategies, it has not shown up in the economy," McCaslin said. "We operate here pretty much as a region. What's good for one is good for all."
Employees of the call center answer all customer service emails from across the United States, Lundberg said. They also answer customer calls to 1-800-Walmart and work with store managers and employees on customer service matters.
The remodeled 130,000-foot former store will have a 24-hour fitness center, a full-service cafe, an outdoor patio and a training room. "They will have a work environment that will reflect the way people work today," Lundberg said.
Walmart plans to move the call enter in the spring.
Webb said entities within the city tried to buy the building when Sam's closed in 2006, but Walmart immediately converted it into a space to create retail design. "They never had a ton of employees there," he said.
Webb also said officials have had many discussions with Walmart about that building and others.
"This will be the best possible use of the facility," Webb said.
NW News on 11/03/2018