The cavernous Inverness Wal-Mart has a popular reception. A 67-year-old rushes to mark the first purchase: a bag of candy.
By JORGE SANCHEZ
Published August 21, 2003
[Times photos: Stephen J. Coddington]
Marie Maynard of Inverness, right, bolts past Inverness Middle School student Kaitlyn Evinger, 11, and William Keenan of Hernando, left, as shoppers swarm the store about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. People had gathered as early as 6:30 to be among the first customers. By the time the doors parted, the parking lot was full.
Citrus High School senior Matt Peters, 17, chose the grand opening over gym class. "I'm just stoked to be here." he said. "It's a great day for Inverness."
Karen Lowe of Inverness wears her loyalty. Her husband, John, retired from a Virginia Wal-Mart and they moved to Florida last year. "I love Wal-Mart," she said. "I'm glad they opened up a super Wal-Mart (here) because I can get everything done at one time now."
INVERNESS - The parking lot was full 30 minutes before the doors opened for the first time Wednesday morning at the Wal-Mart Supercenter, and a heavy flow of shoppers kept the retail behemoth busy on its opening day.
After a brief welcoming ceremony, shoppers waited outside until the doors slid open about 8:30 a.m. A few seconds later, the first cash register started beeping.
Bill McMurphy, 67, an Inverness resident, made the store's first purchase: a bag of M&Ms. "I went in and saw there was no one checking out, so I thought what the heck, I can be their first customer," McMurphy said. "I always wanted to be the first at something.'
For his efforts, McMurphy said Wal-Mart store officials gave him a "special customer" sticker and offered their congratulations.
"It was just a lark, a coincidence," he said.
McMurphy said he shops at the supercenter in Bushnell and will now switch to the Inverness store.
With more than 203,000 square feet of retail space and an attached 14,919-square-foot outdoor garden center, the Inverness supercenter - on State Road 44 west of Inverness - ushers in a new era of shopping in Citrus County.
Now customers can purchase just about anything, including groceries, and get services such as auto repairs, eye exams and haircuts under one roof. The store is open 24 hours a day.
While its long-term effect on other stores remains to be seen, the supercenter put a damper Wednesday on the Winn-Dixie at the nearby Citrus Center at SR 44 and Croft Avenue.
The original Inverness Wal-Mart was a neighbor of Winn-Dixie's, but that Wal-Mart is closed now that the supercenter has opened. By midafternoon Wednesday, not even the "Buy 1, Get 1 Free" offers mustered much of a crowd at Winn-Dixie. The same went for the Kmart a few miles away on U.S. 41 N.
Still, a few loyalists were sticking to tradition.
Lee Pariso of Inverness was buying a four-pack of steaks at the Winn-Dixie.
"I'm not going to give all my money to Wal-Mart," she said. "Winn-Dixie has always treated its customers right, and I think it's right for people to show some support. Sure, I'll shop at Wal-Mart, but I'll also shop here."
But Wednesday was the supercenter's day to shine, and customers came out to admire the spacious new store and pick up a few things.
John Campbell, 71, of Lecanto pushed a shopping cart laden with a 20-inch television he had just picked up for about $138.
"I've been waiting for this store to open since 1999, when I first heard about it," Campbell said. "It's pretty impressive and it offers a lot of jobs."
Just inside the front doors, the Family Hair Salon offered a chocolate cake to its customers. The supercenter hadn't been open an hour and the salon was full of walk-ins. "This is a great opening day," said Linda Pedersen, the salon's supervisor. "None of these customers had appointments, and we've been full all morning."
In the electronics department, Brandie White, 19, of Inverness sifted through a bin of DVDs.
"Look at this! Sweet Home Alabama for only $5.88," she said. "I bought it about two weeks ago for nearly 20 bucks."
White called her mother on her cell phone to see if she wanted to buy a copy of the movie.
Inverness resident Becky Vaughn was checking out the new store with her baby daughter, Addison, who was seated in a shopping cart.
"This place is so huge," Vaughn said. "I just hope my baby doesn't drop her shoe or something and I have to go searching all over this store to find it."
The supercenter opening went smoothly, partly due to its manager, Larry Gamble. A 13-year veteran of Wal-Mart, Gamble has opened 18 supercenters.
"I worked at the first supercenter in the St. Louis area, and then opened the next eight supercenters," he said.
Opening the store went smoothly, he said.
"Most people probably think that we've been putting in long days, but that's not been the case. Most of the managers have been going home around 5:30 each day. There were very few problems," he said.
Gamble said he was pleased with the turnout, and noticed a few interesting trends.
"Usually on the opening day, everyone flocks to the food area and clothes," he said. "But I noticed that the fabrics and crafts area were really busy today, and that tells me that customers here were underserved in fabrics and crafts." The supercenter has about 530 associates, as its employees are called. A sign near an employee entrance in the layaway department states the company stock's opening price on Wall Street, which was $58.88 per share. The saying beneath the stock price reads: "Tomorrow Depends on You."
Wal-Mart closed at $58.78 per share Wednesday.
- Jorge Sanchez can be reached at 860-7313. Send e-mail to sanchez@sptimes.com
