While Cities Compete For Amazon, Wal-Mart Quietly Secures Its New HQ
Amazon is not the only retail giant gaining a new headquarters.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has been quietly planning a move to another location in the company’s Bentonville, Arkansas, hometown, Bloomberg reports.
The company has a number of corporate offices scattered across northwest Arkansas, but the move is intended to consolidate all of these in a corporate campus on J Street.
According to Bloomberg, the headquarters will take between five and seven years to build but will succeed in bringing almost all of the area workers to one site.
The project will span a full city block an estimated two miles east of its current headquarters, Fortune reports.
The new development is said to feature natural light, improved parking, meal services, fitness amenities and access to the local trail network. It is being built with talent attraction and retention in mind.
The news comes shortly after Amazon announced it was looking for a new location for its second $5B headquarters. The tech giant issued a request for proposals in the beginning of September and is soliciting bids from state governments and local officials across North America.
This is far from the first time Amazon and Wal-Mart have made moves to improve their brand at the same time. The two have competed on everything from scan-and-go technology to floating warehouses that would deliver products to consumers by drone.
