Wal-Mart Supercentre opens in Halifax, marks Atlantic first

Wal-Mart Canada Corp. has opened its first Supercentre in Atlantic Canada in a renovated store at the Halifax Shopping Centre Annex on Mumford Road.

The Supercentre adds fresh food to the department store's offerings, putting competitive pressure on grocery retailers such as Sobeys and Atlantic Superstore.

"We have worked hard to ensure all of our customers will enjoy the changes to the store, especially the addition of fresh food," said Anthony Brake, the store manager.

"We're so excited to unveil the results of many months of hard work."

Wal-Mart began rolling out the Supercentre large-scale stores in Ontario several years ago and continues to add locations.

The U.S.-based retail giant says it plans to add 37 Supercentres across Canada as part of its expansion strategy for the year ending Jan. 31, 2014. Of the 380 Wal-Mart locations across the country, 217 of them are now Supercentres.

Nine locations in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are set to become Supercentres by Jan. 31, 2014:

• Bedford/Sackville 141 Damascus Rd.
• Dartmouth 90 Lamont Terrace.
• Dieppe477 Paul St.
• Fredericton 125 Two Nations Crossing.
• Fredericton 1399 Regent St.
• Halifax 220 Chain Lake.
• Halifax 6990 Mumford Rd.
• Moncton 25 Plaza Blvd.
• Saint John 450 Westmorland Rd.

The Halifax Centre store is at a location that originally opened as a Wal-Mart discount store in 2001.

The Supercentres sell a full line of groceries in addition to the merchandise, services and select food products available in traditional Wal-Marts.

Shelley Broader, the CEO of Wal-Mart Canada Corp., said the chain is focused on getting products from local suppliers whenever possible.

"There are 23 new suppliers just particularly for this Halifax location that are bringing seafood, meat, produce, cheese, deli and bakery products right here to Halifax. We have a very careful logistics process. We send a team into each one of our markets before we bring in fresh food and we not only survey our own associates but our customers and we also go from farm to farm and really meet the suppliers," she said Friday.

"We look at speciality products and speciality stores and try to find products that not only best represent the spirit and the feeling of the Maritimes but also ones that help with our values of building a sustainable environment."