Wal-Mart needs 350 to work at new store

Modesto's newest Wal-Mart began accepting applications last week. The company is looking to hire 350 people to work at the supercenter opening on McHenry Avenue.

The 100,000-square-foot store in the North Point Landing Center at 3848 McHenry Ave. is set to open Nov. 12.

But before it can open, the Wal-Mart Supercenter must hire and train new associates to work in all areas, including management, said store manager Paul Shumate.

Shumate says he is looking for people with retail and customer service experience. Applications with résumés attached are helpful, he added.

Wal-Mart officials would not offer a pay range for those being hired, but Shumate said hourly workers at Wal-Mart make an average of $10.83 nationally.

Critics, namely unions, say the company doesn't offer a living wage or adequate health care.

But applicants appear unfazed by the criticism. More than 4,000 people have applied to work at the McHenry store since Wal-Mart announced last week that it was hiring there, Shumate said.

It's significantly more applicants than usual, he added. Shumate said applicants like the idea of steady work, especially in a region with a 10.9 percent unemployment rate.

Wal-Mart offers benefits to full- and part-time employees. Benefits include health and life insurance, a 401(k), profit-sharing, store discount cards, and company stock purchase program.

Wal-Mart also offers performance-based bonuses.

The Modesto store will be the smallest Wal-Mart Supercenter in California. It will have grocery items, including full produce, bakery, deli and meat counter areas, along with items found at a standard Wal-Mart store.

It will complement, not replace, an existing Wal-Mart store in Modesto on Plaza Parkway, company officials said. Wal-Mart also has a store in Ceres and plans for a supercenter in that city.

Wal-Mart will be the anchor tenant for the shopping center between Meily Way and Coralwood Road. Formerly known as McHenry Square, the complex has been without an anchor for several years.

The building that will house Modesto's supercenter has been home to a variety of tenants over the years. Most recently, a SavMax store closed there in 2002, and a Rite Aid closed in the other half of the building in 1998. Wal-Mart knocked out an interior wall in the building to create one store.

Wal-Mart Supercenters have been controversial in many cities — including Turlock, where they prompted a virtual ban — because of their effect on local economies and use of nonunion labor.

Wal-Mart secured the necessary approvals for the Modesto store early on in the process. Because the store is filling what was previously a large retail space, city officials said, the project had few hurdles to clear, especially compared with building a store on undeveloped land.

Bee staff writer Eve Hightower can be reached at ehightower@modbee.com or 578-2382.