Walmart announces store improvements in northwest suburbs

Walmart is making improvements to several of its stores in the northwest suburbs, with the expansion of its free Online Grocery Pickup service to stores in Carpentersville and Huntley and the remodel of the Supercenter in Crystal Lake all taking place this month.

The improvements are part of Walmart's plans to spend an estimated $56 million over the next year in Illinois through the remodeling of 16 stores as well as the rollout of several in-store and online innovations like Online Grocery Pickup, which are designed to help busy customers save time and money.

Crystal Lake remodel:

Walmart celebrated the grand reopening of the remodeled Supercenter in Crystal Lake with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday, July 20. The Crystal Lake store, home to Illinois' first Walmart Academy and one of the first to participate in Online Grocery Delivery, is one of 16 the retailer is planning to remodel throughout the state in 2018.

With the remodel, customers will enjoy the following store improvements:

• State-of-the-art electronics department with interactive displays;

• Revitalized apparel department, including updated fitting rooms;

• New tool department with fresh look and added variety of tools available;

• Wider aisles and lower fixtures for improved store flow, better line of sight and easier navigation.

As part of the celebration, the Crystal Lake Walmart presented donations to McHenry County Police Charities ($2,000), Immanuel Lutheran Church ($2,000), Crystal Lake Fire Rescue ($1,000) and Northern Illinois Food Bank ($500).

Online Grocery Pickup:

Walmart's free Online Grocery Pickup service enables customers to order groceries online at grocery.walmart.com and pick them up at their local Walmart store without leaving their cars. The service went live in Carpentersville on July 18 and Huntley on July 19.

With this expansion of Online Grocery Pickup, the service is now available at more than 30 stores across the state.

Just in time for back to school season, customers can use Walmart's free service to pick up school staples, including notebooks, folders, binders, colored pencils and more. Pickup is an especially convenient option for college students and their parents, who can shop for back-to-college items and dorm room essentials on Walmart.com and pick them up at a store closer to campus.

"At Walmart, we pride ourselves on saving our customers money and now, with innovative services like grocery pickup, we are also saving them valuable time," said Carpentersville Store Manager Phil Armstrong. "Our customers say that grocery pick up is a game changer that lets them shop in a matter of minutes - between errands or on their way home from an after school activity - without even unbuckling their seat belts."