• Walmart, the largest retailer in the world, is about to get even bigger in the US.
• The company announced it plans to add or convert more than 150 locations over the next five years.
• It will also upgrade 650 locations this year to its “store of the future” concept.

The world’s largest retailer is growing again in the US.

Walmart announced Wednesday it will “build or convert” more than 150 stores across the country over the next five years.

In addition, the company will upgrade 650 locations this year to its “store of the future” concept revealed last fall.

Walmart’s first two new locations will be Neighborhood Markets in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, and Atlanta, Georgia, opening this Spring. 

Another 12 projects will begin construction this year, as well as the conversion of a smaller store into a Supercenter, the company said.

The news could signal a thawing out of the “Retail Apocalypse” that gripped the industry in recent years, which included the shuttering of more than 2,800 stores by 20 major brands last year.

Walmart last opened more Supercenters than it closed in 2019, and a Business Insider tally found the company closed as many as 22 locations last year.

Two San Diego-area locations — one Neighborhood Market and one store — are slated to close in February.

Each new location employs hundreds of workers, and the company estimates the construction and renovation projects will also add tens of thousands of jobs across the US.

Walmart currently has roughly 4,600 US stores and employs 1.6 million people.

The new stores and the renovations alike also include more space devoted to the sorting and shipping of digital orders.

That expansive — and expanding — physical footprint means 90% of Americans are within ten miles of one of its stores, giving the company a major leg up in its e-commerce competition with Amazon.