Vaudreuil-Dorion will ultimately not have its $100 million order processing center from the American giant Walmart announced last year because the American multinational now prefers to modernize eight stores on Quebec soil, the company announced Thursday.
“Instead of moving forward with the opening of the previously announced distribution center in Vaudreuil-Dorion, we have decided to accelerate upgrades to our existing network,” confirmed to Newspaper Steeve Azoulay, Walmart spokesperson.
“By the end of our next fiscal year, we plan to invest approximately $100 million to modernize eight stores in the province,” he added. The multinational’s decision was first reported by VIVA MEDIA on Wednesday.
$100 million project
In September 2022, The newspaper had reported that Walmart wanted to build its first $100 million order processing center with 225 jobs in the MRC of Vaudreuil-Soulanges.
Asked by The newspaper, the City of Vaudreuil-Dorion was unable to provide details on the aborted project on its territory. The City maintained that it only learned the news recently from Développement Vaudreuil-Soulanges.
“Our organization does not financially support large-scale projects like this,” said Joanne Brunet, its executive director, when questioned.
Global giant
Walmart raked in nearly $16 billion in profits in 2023. More than 1.6 million people work at the company.
Over the past two years, Walmart says it has invested $120 million in its stores here, in addition to having purchased $3.5 billion worth of products from 480 Quebec suppliers last year alone. The multinational has been present in the country since 1994.
Last August, the American giant announced the opening of its first new store in Quebec in ten years. More than $20 million had been invested in this new branch, which has everything of a grocery store, in the midst of a period of inflation.