Hands-free shopping
Bridgeview Walmart will shop for the customers
By Steve Metsch
If you’re in need of groceries or other shopping, but are reluctant to be in larger crowds because of the coronavirus pandemic, Walmart may have a solution.
The Walmart in Bridgeview, at 10260 S. Harlem Ave., is introducing a new service that will have the store’s employees shop for you and then bring it out to your vehicle. And, there’s no extra charge for this service.
Store Manager Reeves Perez and Melissa Kolodziej, market manager for eight stores in the suburban Chicago area, presented the on-line grocery concept during a brief event held on July 23 in the store.
“We basically shop for you,”Kolodziej said. “You create an order on-line. We get the order. You select the time and we’ll deliver it right to your car. You don’t even have to get out of your car.”
“It’s free,” she added. “Why would we charge? At Walmart we are an everyday low-cost operator. We give it back to our customers.”
Store Manager Reeves Perez, right, and Melissa Kolodziej, market manager for eight Walmart stores in the suburban Chicago area, presented the on-line grocery concept during a brief event held on July 23 at the store in Bridgeview. Photo by Steve Metsch.
While the timing is nice with concerns about the pandemic, Kolodziel said the idea was in the works before COVID-19.
“We want to provide a service for our community. And I think, especially with COVID-19, there’s a heightened awareness of wanting to give back to the community,” she said.
Perez, who has worked at the store for three years, said the service “is all about making it an easy shopping experience.”
There is no limit on how much you can order, but the minimum is $30, Kolodziej said. “I think anybody can (order) $30 of groceries or supplies,” she added.
“The best thing about is say you want a Dove shampoo in a 12-ounce (bottle) and maybe we don’t have a 12-ounce (bottle). We have a 24-ounce (bottle). We’ll substitute the 24-ounce at the 12-ounce price,” Kolodziej said. “Not bad.”
There are designated parking spots outside the store, at the north end, where shoppers can wait for their orders.
Bridgeview Village Trustee Claudette Struzik, who attended the event, said “I think it’s a great deal because some people don’t want to go out.”
“Maybe they need something but (they say) ‘Oh, I don’t want to do that. I’m afraid.’ Whatever. I think it’s a great idea,” Struzik said. “I’m glad that Bridgeview is getting this.”
Shoppers can place their orders seven days in advance.
“There are some limits on essentials,” Kolodziej said. “We’re not going to have a customer buy 50 rolls of toilet paper. Obviously, we want to provide for the entire community, not just one person.”
Yes, you can purchase alcoholic beverages, provided you are of age and have the ID to prove it, she said.
There are 246 employees who work in the 140,000-square-foot store, Perez said.
“We actually added about 30 jobs for this,” Kolodziej said. “We added an assistant manager, supervisors and personal shoppers.”
The personal shoppers shop for up to eight customers at once, “because we want this to be efficient,” she said.
Desplaines Valley News
Email Steve Metsch at sm4610@sbcglobal.net
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