E-Town Walmart remodeled

ELIZABETHTOWN – The first Walmart made history with its grand opening July 2, 1962 under the original name of “Walton’s 5 & 10.”

Since that time, the company has undergone a name change, a hyphen removal and has expanded from that single store in Rogers, Arkansas, to becoming a global retail leader, has become huge in the e-commerce and digital retail world and has rebranded a few times.

One of the things that mogul Sam Walton announced he was going to do was visit all of his stores and according to Business Insider, Walton was an experienced pilot who would use his plane to make surprise store visits. Just shy of 30 years after the inception of his first store, Walton passed on.

His store, however continued his legacy and as of today, it is reported that Walmart has a worldwide total of 10,797 stores and clubs.

According to Scott McCleod from the Smoky Mountain News, “While I was living in Elizabethtown in southeastern North Carolina in 1988, Walmart opened a brand-new store. Most everyone was excited, and how could you blame them? The retail giant hadn’t yet taken over the world, although it was already by then the largest retailer in the U.S. But how could you argue with the cheap prices all the one-stop variety, especially in an area that was poverty-stricken as textile mills were shuttering their operations?

“Wallace Leinwand had become a professional acquaintance when I was a newcome to town, a trusted source of town history and an expert on civic affairs of the community. He owned a family clothing store on the main street of town (a quick search on the internet finds that it has survived), a typical department store of the type common in most small towns. But way back then, over lunch at a downtown burger joint where I was an eager reporter at my third newspaper job, I remember him bemoaning the coming of the huge discount retailer. I can’t recall his exact words, but he was wise enough to see the writing on the wall, savvy enough to realize that Walmart and other national big boxes would bring irrevocable change to the main streets of small-town America.

“Wallace Leinwand nailed it. But the Walmart phenomenon wouldn’t have happened if Americans had not already began abandoning their downtowns for malls and two-store shopping centers in the suburbs.”

The Walmart store in Elizabethtown had pretty much remained the same for the past 30 years with the big news of Sam Walton visiting the store in the ‘70s according to a photo that Ricky Leinwand (Wallace’s son and now store owner of Leinwand’s) had when he personally met Walton at the Elizabethtown Walmart.

Oct. 31, 2025 was a day for trick or treating and dressing up in costumes. It was also a big day for the E-Town Walmart as it would present to the community a “grand re-opening” celebration after 30 years of literally little change.

“We are having our grand reopening and we are so excited,” said Tina Brock, Walmart Coach. “We have all new stuff in the store; we’ve got new coolers and we are excited for everyone to see what we have. A remodel has been in the works for quite a while. It’s just, when they put us on the books, we had to wait for our turn. It was time for our store to be refreshed and to look new for our town.”

Even though it is not considered a Super Walmart, the upgrades included new dairy coolers including ice cream, lunch meats, dairy products, a new and improved pharmacy, extended aisles, added more products.

Rachel Stenson, District marketing manager for the Elizabethtown Walmart who was present for the grand reopening said, “We are so excited to be able to have all the new and different options for our customers. We’ve expanded on our food, revising the store and making it beautiful. This store has needed a remodel for a very long time. With our food assortment, all of our dairy and frozen options that we have in addition to elevating some of the departments for more options also.”

The celebration began with the foundational cornerstone and the heart of the founder Sam Walton as Pastor Donald Thomas who came and brought an opening prayer for blessing upon the project. After the prayer, CW2 (R) Dwain Courtright, Senior Army Instructor, from West Bladen High School JROTC had his color guard come down the aisle and present the colors as the national anthem was sung.

There were monetary gifts of $1500 each was given to three different organizations from the community: Seth’s Wish, Spiritual Pathways to our LYF and EB LYFE Community Services.

Leinwand then came forth representing the Town of Elizabethtown, council members and Sylvia Campbell, Mayor of Elizabethtown.

“As we know, Walmart brings people to town,” Leinwand said. “We appreciate Walmart. Years ago, the deal was, ‘let’s keep them out of here.’ But right now we know that this is the anchor of Elizabethtown. I did want to show you one thing. I read Sam Walton’s book and he was the richest man in the world back then and I know from the book that he visits every single store. And he’s eventually going to come to Elizabethtown. Sure enough, about 7 a.m. one day he was on his way. I have a picture of him, one of my favorite pictures and I am so blessed to have met him. This picture is me when I was a young man with Robin Summerlin meeting Sam Walton.”

Stenson then addressed the large crowd and said, “The team from Store #1166 know that I call this store my little dollhouse. And how fun that this is my little dollhouse and we get to play dress-up today. (As everyone was in Halloween costumes) Yes, it’s my little dollhouse, but in my little dollhouse, big things happen. There are big hearts, and there is a whole lot of big energy in this store. You showed up, you worked together and you made something special here. Every bit of your pride shows in your details and your teamwork. It is exceptional that we get to deliver this to our customers.”

Brock then came to the podium and presented Walmart employee Donna Hall with a special recognition plaque for going above and beyond in the remodel.

“Miss Donna Hall came out of her position and onto the remodel and was a true leader and we thank you for everything you have done. You were amazing. Miss Kimberly McCoy who couldn’t be here because she hit a deer came off of my front end to overnight and was instrumental in making sure when we open these doors in the morning, everything was put back in place. I can’t thank you guys enough.”

Manager Gina Brun finished the program with remarks and thankyous to her team.

“Today we celebrate our second-best day ever,” Brun said. “Our grand reopening of 1166. To every customer at Walmart and extended families of our associates, thank you. Thank you for the patience you have shown to us. Over the past 16 weeks with all the changes we have had in the store. I’m sure that many days it seemed like a never-ending cycle of playing hide and seek. We have added newly renovated restrooms to better accommodate all of our family, pharmacy with our new innovation such as digital memory board and our patient service room. And our biggest thing, our new aisle of refrigeration. I have chosen to highlight today one of our favorite Sam Walton quotes. ‘Individuals don’t win. Teams do.’ And today is the opportunity to build the tomorrow that you want.”

Walmart is located at 1347 W Broad St, Elizabethtown, NC 28337 and their phone number is (910) 862-8424. The store is open 6 a.m. – 11 p.m. seven days a week.

More pictures found on page 11 of today’s paper and you can also see a full video of the entire celebration at: bladenjournal.com