North Miami Beach Wal-Mart Supercenter Celebrates Grand Opening. 
by Holly Gilbert

Creating 750 new jobs and focusing on charitable support and every day low prices, the Wal-Mart Supercenter in North Miami Beach celebrated its grand opening at 7 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2005. Doors opened at 7:15 a.m. The store is located at 1425 N.E. 163rd St. 
According to Store Manager Mark Kurkin, the new 210,564-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter features 36 general merchandise departments including apparel and accessories, fine jewelry, a lawn and garden center, health and beauty aids, and a full line of electronics. In addition, the store offers a bakery, a delicatessen, a frozen food section and meat, dairy and fresh produce sections. It will be open to customers from 6 a.m. until midnight, seven days a week and will include 37 full-service and 14 express check-out lanes.
Other store features include a vision center, a McDonald's restaurant, a portrait studio, a Smart Style hair salon, a Regal nail salon, a branch of Dade Federal Credit Union, a one-hour photo lab and a pharmacy. The store will also have a Wal-Mart Connect Center for cellular phone sales.
Upon its opening, the store announced $20,000 in donations through Wal-Mart's Good Works community involvement program to a number of organizations. The store will also have a budget to give donations away locally throughout the year. Organizations interested in receiving funding can contact the store for details. Groups receiving donations upon the store's opening include: 
• City of North Miami Beach Parks and Recreation Department
• City of North Miami Beach Police Department
• Greynolds Park Elementary School
• Harvest Fire Worship Center
• John F. Kennedy Middle School
• Nat Moore Foundation 
• National Society to Prevent Blindness
• North Miami Beach High School
• Ser-Jobs for Progress 
• Stop Hunger Inc.
• Toras Emes Academy of Miami
• United Way of Miami-Dade 
In 2004, Wal-Mart Stores and SAM'S CLUB gave $10,712,241 to local causes and organizations in the communities they serve in the state of Florida. In addition, many charities and organizations received in-kind donations and additional funds raised through stores, CLUBS and distribution centers in the amount of $9,609,231, for a grand total of $20,321,472 contributed through Wal-Mart's presence across the state.
Wal-Mart benefits available to full- and part-time associates include healthcare insurance with no lifetime maximum. Associate premiums begin at less than $40 per month for an individual and less than $155 per month for a family, no matter how large. Wal-Mart also offers a 401(k) plan and profit sharing contributions, whether an associate contributes or not, store discount cards, performance-based bonuses, discounted stock purchase program and life insurance. 
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates Wal-Mart Stores, Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets and SAM'S CLUB locations in the United States. Internationally, the company operates in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea and the United Kingdom. The company's securities are listed on the New York and Pacific stock exchanges under the symbol WMT. More information about Wal-Mart can be found by visiting www.walmartfacts.com. Online merchandise sales are available at www.walmart.com.
Wal-Mart in Florida
As of July 2005, Wal-Mart employed 92,034 associates and owned and operated the following facilities in the state of Florida:120 Supercenters, 50 Discount Stores, 8 Neighborhood Markets, 39 SAM'S CLUBS and 6 Distribution Centers.
In 2004, Wal-Mart collected on behalf of the state of Florida more than $691.2 million in sales taxes and paid more than $55.6 million in state and local taxes. 
EDITOR'S NOTE: See www.walmartfacts.com for more information about Wal-Mart in Florida.