Based on the speed with which the construction is progressing, the opening of the Wesley Chapel Walmart’s gas station should only be a few months away.
Walmart Fuel Under Construction
The massive banner on the construction fence couldn’t be any less subtle — “COMING SOON, YOUR NEW WALMART FUEL STATION” (photo).
The underutilized northeast portion of the Wesley Chapel Walmart’s parking lot (directly behind Chase Bank) on S.R. 54 (east of Bruce B. Downs Blvd., or BBD) is being transformed into the next useful feature of the popular store.
Final site plan revisions for the gas station addition were submitted to the county back in January of 2024, but nothing transpired for almost a year and a half, so it was unclear when, or even if, the station would ever come to fruition.
That question has been answered, as the construction is now happening at breakneck speed. Walmart hadn’t even fenced the area off just a few months ago, but now, the massive fuel tanks are getting ready to be buried, the station’s canopy is about half done, and the convenience store is pretty much finished. At this pace, it appears that the new gas station, with 18 fueling positions (making it the largest such station in Wesley Chapel), will be done in a few months.
In addition to the gas pumps, the station will feature a very tiny and interesting 440-sq.-ft. convenience store. From what we can tell from the building plan and this photo, the tiny store will have two exterior restrooms to the rear of the building, with roll-up doors on the side of the building that will protect what appears to be display doors that will open outward which will likely contain drinks and snacks. It’s unclear, however, if you will even be able to go inside the store to make your purchases or if everything will be done from the outside. We’ve never seen anything quite like it before. It’s certainly nothing like the full convenience store at the New Tampa Walmart on BBD.
In addition to these features, the plan also proposes to add a new right turn lane into the Walmart’s northern driveway on southbound Wiregrass Ranch Blvd., which should hopefully reduce conflicts for motorists who only want to access the new gas station.
Sam’s Club Expansion Not Happening?
Considering that the two stores are run by the same company, is the Sam’s Club on S.R. 56 getting its desperately needed fuel expansion next? Unfortunately, it seems that it’s not likely to be happening anytime soon, as the plans for that expansion were withdrawn from the county by the developer in January of this year.
We had previously reported — back in the summer of 2023 — that Sam’s Club representatives had met with the county to expand the store’s existing gas station from 12 fueling positions to 16, which would include adding two more fueling lanes and a redesign to make things run smoother, as the existing location and design of the station causes backups on the access roadway (which sometimes extend out onto S.R. 56) in front of the main Sam’s Club parking lot.
Engineering plans were submitted the following year, and the county gave comments, but it appears that the plan is off the table for now.
Speaking of convenience, Walmart is expanding a partnership to provide convenient healthcare options inside their stores, and the Wesley Chapel is next on the list. Last month, the Walmart at 28500 S.R. 54 took out permits and then quickly installed the new sign for “Conviva Senior Primary Care,” located in the clinical office space formerly occupied by Walmart Health.
The clinics are part of Humana’s Primary Care Organization (PCO), which includes Conviva and CenterWell Senior Primary Care.
Last year, in a press release from Humana, Walmart’s executive vice president of health & wellness Brian Setzer said, “We are looking forward to welcoming CenterWell [and Conviva] into these purpose-built health care spaces to offer quality care to communities in four states.”
He added, “Leasing these spaces to a well-known and successful healthcare delivery organization is a win for [our] customers and patients, as we continue to focus on our core health & wellness business of Pharmacy and Optical.”
Conviva’s website states that the company has locations in Texas and Florida, and we found that there are already more than a dozen existing care centers dotted around the greater Tampa area, a couple of which are located inside Walmarts, like the ones at 1575 Land O’Lakes Blvd. in Lutz and at 7631 Gall Blvd. in Zephyrhills.
According to ConvivaCareCenters.com, “At Conviva Senior Primary Care, you’ll get 50% more one-on-one time with our primary care physicians who respect your schedule. Take the time to ask all of your questions and feel confident about your care.”
Conviva will have its own exterior entrance, located east of the doors for Wesley Chapel Walmart’s ‘Home & Pharmacy’ section. There will be dedicated and marked parking spaces for patients, as well as another interior entrance to the clinic next to the vision center.
Meghan Kile, an insurance broker/agent with a desk set up just inside the front of the Walmart in the mornings (under a bright blue banner with the Walmart logo and the names of multiple insurance providers), stated that she thinks Conviva is hoping to be open by April or May, but she had heard no exact date as of yet. Meghan believes this Conviva location is still in the process of hiring its staff.
The sign out front of Conviva’s exterior entrance says “Accepting New Patients” and the phone number listed — (813) 815-8391 — goes straight to a voicemail for an “Immacula Nezier, APRN.” Unfortunately, we were not able to get in touch with Nezier for more exact details.
On Feb. 20, history was made. It was reported that, for the first time ever, Amazon had surpassed Walmart in quarterly revenue — $187.8 billion to $180.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024. Investors immediately took notice and Walmart’s stock dropped nearly 7%. Walmart still led Amazon in annual revenue for 2024, however — $674 billion to Amazon’s $638 billion — as the Bentonville, AR-based Walmart barely kept its title as the world’s biggest retailer.
Some might think that Walmart is starting to lose because its sales are going down, and that its business model is archaic, but Walmart actually has continued to grow year-over-year, with explosive growth over the last three years. In fact, Walmart’s revenues for 2024 were the highest they’ve ever been — 6% higher than in 2023.
So, who would think that in the world of big retail, New Tampa would get something the rest of the nation doesn’t yet have? This “not so secret weapon,” which will be pilot-tested soon, is part of Walmart’s plan to hang onto the #1 spot. Lasers? Robots? Artificial Intelligence? How about all three? Yes, seriously!
New Tampa As Ground Zero?
The New Tampa Walmart on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd, just south of Wharton High, is a very busy store. Although not the biggest or busiest in the nation, it still serves thousands of customers every day. And, with Walmart desperately trying be the nation’s leader in customer service, how does the New Tampa Walmart store figure into that equation? And, why are the recently installed robotic towers at the New Tampa Walmart still sitting unused (photo above)?
Taking up more than half of the store’s exterior garden center, the large blue “Auto-Dispense Towers” (as they were officially called) have given us a glimpse into the future of the retailer, even if they were slightly ahead of their time. And, these unassuming structures might hold part of the key to Walmart’s continued success nationwide.
If you pull up to the store on the Wharton side, you might wonder, “What in the heck are these things?,” as they remind us of the classic drive-up bank ATM/teller lines, and honestly, that’s not too far off from their actual purpose.
There currently are eight parking spaces under the blue awnings where customers can pull up and park next to individual roll-up doors, get out, walk over to the screen, type in their Walmart order number, and their orders are sent via blue crates on a rail system inside the building (through the thick blue part of the roof), down to the waiting vehicle, where the roll-up door will open, allowing the customer to load their order directly into their vehicle.
This is all supposed to be done automatically by a robotic retrieval system that was called “Alphabot,” working in the 27,000-sq.-ft., back-of-house Market Fulfillment Center (MFC). It was a truly cutting-edge concept that can even handle orders with cold groceries.
But, while the towers, the system, and the fulfillment center were all installed in 2023 and were supposed to be operational for customers by sometime last year, the rollout of the automated system was delayed for reasons unknown, despite multiple in-person inquiries at the store that went unanswered by management for over a year.
We were told it was corporate policy not to talk about the stores, even though management was more than happy to explain the system’s purpose when we wrote our first article about it back in 2023, called “Walmart to Begin Utilizing Robotic Order Fulfillment by Next Year.”
We had heard some rumblings that the wait times for products to be delivered through the system were too long, and that the program was possibly being completely scrapped because the revamped curbside pickup area just worked better.
These rumors didn’t seem too far-fetched, as this was only the 2nd store in the U.S. to get this new technology (in addition to Walmart’s flagship store in Bentonville), so maybe it hadn’t worked as was hoped, and was being abandoned, as was the drone delivery service the New Tampa store was among the first to have back in 2023 that actually was abandoned last year.
What we have found out is that Walmart is not scrapping the automated customer fulfillment program, and that another company contracted by Walmart will be perfecting it for them.
Convenience Above All Else
Convenience has become a big issue for Walmart, since the company believes its customers want and are even willing to pay extra for it, and that this focus will keep the retailer at the top of the retail sector. According to Walmart.com, “Approximately 90% of the US population lives within 10 miles of a Walmart or Sam’s Club,” but as we all know, times are changing and, especially with the growth of Amazon and other home delivery services, customers still want more.
Walmart has been leading the way in customer convenience for years. In 2000, around the time the New Tampa store was breaking ground, Walmart.com was launched, allowing customers to shop online. And, in 2007, the website introduced “Site to Store,” which allowed customers to order online and pick up in-store.
The company also helped pioneer self check-out in the early 2000s, which then became commonplace in Walmart stores in the 2010s. In 2013, curbside pickup was introduced at a Denver location, and added to 1,000 locations by 2017. The New Tampa store has a fully revamped curbside pickup (photo), now with up to 45 numbered spots available on the north side of the store.
Walmart first introduced its big orange in-store pickup towers in 2016, but discontinued them after less than five years. The towers were used to pick up online orders and were partially robotic, operating like a big vending machine at the front of the store.
Today, the company’s most ambitious program, the “Walmart Plus” subscriptions — which are similar to an Amazon Prime membership — are soaring, offering free grocery and product delivery for $12.95 a month, but with an option to have your items delivered within three hours for an extra fee. According to Walmart, the extra fees accounted for a whopping 30% of all Walmart Plus orders. The company has set itself up to offer same-day service to 93% of US households, chief financial officer John David Rainey explained during a recent investor call in February.
“We’re strengthening our ability to serve people how they want to be served in the moment,” chief executive officer Doug McMillon has said, “That’s what’s driving our growth.” And, McMillon is doubling down on the convenience strategy. “If I could change anything about how we’re perceived today, it’d be that more people know about our breadth of assortment online and our increasing delivery speed.”
What About Lasers, Robots & AI?
Although we haven’t had any confirmation from Walmart, part of the reason why the New Tampa store’s automated system isn’t yet operational for customers may have to do with the fact that, on Jan. 16, Walmart announced that it had agreed to sell its “Advanced Systems & Robotics” business, based in Andover, MA (which had been developing the company’s proprietary Alphabot system), to a publicly traded company called Symbotic (NASDAQ stock ticker SYM), for $200 million cash at close, with consideration for $350 million more (or $550 million total), depending upon how much business Walmart does with the company.
Then, Walmart will turn around and pay Symbotic $230 million at close, with another $290 million over time (or $520 million total), as a contractor to install the robotic systems in Walmart stores. Confusing, right?! That’s business!
Since 2022, Walmart has been a big investor in Symbotic and, as of Dec. 2024, the retailer owned 15 million Symbotic shares valued at more than $400 million.
It makes sense that Walmart is heavily invested in Symbotic and paying the company a hefty sum in the deal, because, in the announcement, Symbotic said that, “Walmart has chosen Symbotic to develop, build and deploy an advanced solution leveraging Symbotic’s A.I.-enabled robotics platform to offer Walmart customers greater shopping convenience through accelerated online pickup and delivery options at stores.”
The announcement also said that, as part of the deal, “If performance criteria [for the robotics platform] are achieved, Walmart is committed to purchasing and deploying systems for 400 APDs at stores over a multi-year period, with Walmart’s option to add additional APDs in the coming years.” APD stands for Accelerated Pickup and Delivery centers, which is just a fancy name for the Market Fulfillment Centers (MFC), just like the one that was built in the New Tampa store that isn’t yet available to fill customer orders.
According to this news, since Symbotic acquired the part of Walmart that first developed the robotic technology, one could assume the company will be perfecting the Alphabot technology and deploying it to the New Tampa store when it’s ready, and then construct the system in 400 Walmart stores as part of the initial agreement.
The construction of the auto dispense towers at the New Tampa Walmart on BBD Blvd. should be completed and open for business by early 2024. (Photo by Joel Provenzano).
A few issues ago, we told you about the New Tampa Walmart’s drone delivery of a surprise reward for two teachers at Clark Elementary.
The New Tampa location is still one of very few Walmart stores nationwide, and one of fewer than ten in Florida, to offer drone deliveries.
But, for those who couldn’t help but notice the long-term construction at the New Tampa Walmart (especially anyone trying to access the store from Wharton High), the news about that construction is that the local Walmart store will be the first in Florida — and only the second in the country — to offer robotic/automated customer fulfillment pods for pickup orders. Walmart calls them “auto dispense towers” and the corresponding area inside the store as a Market Fulfillment Center (MFC).
Blue bins that have been loaded with groceries & other items into the Alphabot are then brought to the store’s Market Fulfillment Center. (Photo from Walmart Corp.) The track-and-rail system of bins inside the MFC at Bentonville, AR.
Items (including groceries) will be run in blue containers on a rail system that runs through (and inside of) the thick blue part of the ceiling structure, from inside the store, and then down to waiting vehicles parked under the awnings that cover the parking area (see top photo on this page).
Customers awaiting their pickup orders put in a code, and their groceries and other items are transported through the ceiling out the door in front of their vehicles. There are eight dedicated parking spaces for customers to pick up from these digital auto dispense towers. There also are an extra four loading spaces to the right of the large doors for ‘other’ customer orders — including for large items, etc., where employees will manually bring the items out to waiting vehicles.
The very large “fulfillment center” area behind the newly constructed pharmacy inside of Walmart is where products will be pulled in an automated fashion to fill orders. There will be refrigeration for cold items. Employees also will be back there to ensure orders are filled correctly.
A Walmart associate inputs data for an order in one of the blue bins filled with groceries. A filled blue bin being brought out to the w area.
It may be hard to understand how the auto dispensing works without being able to see it, so we have provided some photos from Walmart’s recently begun pilot program at its Store 100 in Bentonville, AR, near the company’s headquarters.
The MFC is built inside the store and is powered by a proprietary storage and retrieval system – named Alphabot. Walmart believes fulfillment through digitization and connecting its store and supply chain assets end to end will transform order fulfillment. And, along with it, the company believes, this should improve customer satisfaction and offer more opportunities for associates.
“This new order fulfillment system is truly game changing,” said Ryan Simpson, the store manager at Walmart’s Store 100. “Not only does it enhance the customer experience through quicker, more accurate online order fulfillment, it also provides us the runway to continue growing our business now and in the future.”
Once the fulfillment center opens, Walmart management believes that customers can expect to see the benefits of the MFC almost immediately.
A Walmart associate in Bentonville helps load a customer’s groceries. (All photos from Walmart Corp.)
MFCs will significantly increase the number of orders the store is able to fulfill in a day, promising faster fulfillment with lower substitutions. Walmart+ members have even more to look forward to, with free unlimited delivery. MFCs also improve the in-store shopping experience by freeing up associates to help customers shopping in-store.
“I love the MFC,” says Gilbert Giron, MFC digital team lead at Walmart. “The dedicated space allows us to concentrate on picking items for our online customers. I feel confident that the items our associates are looking for are going to be there when a customer wants them. I know our team is providing our customers with great service.”
When Will Ours Open?
Walmart began the permitting process for the New Tampa store’s new addition back in the fall of 2021.
According to the plans filed, the inside portion of the new MFC area will take up approximately 27,000 sq. ft. inside the Walmart building. This will be one of the first operational ones in the nation with this new technology.
The staff at the New Tampa Walmart stated that they expect the new system to be open for customers by sometime early in 2024. They explained that once the construction has been completed, they will need to test the system and run trials to smooth out any kinks.
So, as it turns out, you literally can get anything at a Walmart Supercenter.
Even a drive-in movie.
On August 18 and 19, the Walmart on S.R. 54 in Wesley Chapel converted a large portion of its parking lot into a drive-in movie theater, which was part of a nationwide pop-up drive-in movie event touring the country and visiting 160 Walmart locations.
At this free event, Walmart stationed two large digital screens and cleared out a big section of its parking lot. Anyone was welcome to go online and register to see a showing of “Spy Kids” on Tuesday evening and “Selena”’ on Wednesday evening.
Both showings were sold out, with about 70 cars lined up with families and couples
who received goody bags full of snacks and water at check-in.
“We love this,” said Wesley Chapel resident Janet Perez, who, with her son, enjoyed some drive-thru Taco Bell while watching “Spy Kids.” It didn’t even matter that the movie was a hit 20 years ago.
“You don’t know how much we’ve missed movies!,” Perez said. “Plus, this is both of our first time at a drive-in, so it’s been great. It was great of Walmart to do this.”
Families with little kids huddled in the front seat(s) of the cars to watch the movie and snack on popcorn, as the audio for the film could be heard by tuning the radio to 92.1 FM. Many of the cars enjoyed the experience with the windows down, as the Florida evening sky turned orange with the sunset.
In the end, it was a fun event that even new Wesley Chapel residents enjoyed.
“This was definitely great, especially for families who don’t have a lot going on, or are low on money because of the virus,” said new Wesley Chapel resident Tiffany Hardy, who said she recently moved here with her family from Leesburg.
Tiffany watched the movie with her husband, Jason, in the driver’s seat and her son, Talon, on her lap (photo, right).
“It’s nice to be able to get out of the house and do something a little different, too,” she said.
