After a series of exhaustive legal challenges and over 13 years of waiting, the Ceres Walmart Supercenter is gearing up to open on Wednesday, Nov. 17, a store employee told the Courier.
Employees of the existing store at Hatch and Mitchell will be transferred to the new store at Service and Mitchell roads while Walmart seeks to hire an additional 50 to 75 employees. A Job Fair will be held at the existing Ceres Walmart store from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. this Saturday. Persons wanting a job at the new Supercenter should apply by texting “JOBS” to 240240.
Part-time cashiers will be paid $15 per hour, while full-time and part-time food and consumable employees will earn $16 an hour. Pay of $17 per hour is for full- and part-time employees in the meat and produce, deli and bakery, and digital shopper employees as well as the temporary setup team.
Walmart offers competitive pay, 401K, medical, dental and vision benefits, stock options and other benefits to its employees.
Work began on the 185,682-square-foot Supercenter in December 2020 at the northwest corner of Mitchell and Service roads. The Supercenter is the anchor and first building of the 304,000-square-foot Mitchell Ranch Shopping Center. The new store will occupy 185,682 square feet with approximately 36,167 square feet devoted to grocery sales.
Besides the Walmart Supercenter, plans call for 10 other retail shops totaling 114,162 square feet, including three other major tenants and four smaller shops as well as a standalone retail building and two to three new restaurants.
The city expects the remainder of the center to develop as companies express interest in leases. In the past, Applebee’s has expressed interest in locating in the center.
Once the Supercenter is finished, the Walmart at Hatch and Mitchell roads will be closed and marketed for another use. City officials expect the building to be offered for non-competing businesses, possibly split into two or more spaces.
The shopping center was fought for years by Stockton attorney Brett S. Jolley and a group calling themselves Citizens for Ceres, but generally acknowledged to be silently funded by a local store chain trying to keep Walmart from expanding in California.
