Walmart opens massive fitness center on Arkansas campus
Walmart is taking a page from Google, Apple and Meta's playbooks. It is constructing its own sprawling campus in the heart of Arkansas to not only attract talent but drive employee productivity.
On Friday, the Walton Family Whole Health & Fitness is opening its doors, marking the first of many buildings and amenities slated to be constructed on the company's new home office complex through 2025.
The fitness facility, sitting on Walmart's 360,000-square foot complex, comes equipped with tennis courts, pickleball courts, three pools, basketball courts and indoor tracks, Cindi Marsiglio, senior vice president of corporate real estate at Walmart, told FOX Business.
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The campus, which is being constructed in phases through 2025, will eventually include a dozen office buildings in addition to amenity buildings, parking decks and surface lots.
There will also be a food hall, learning and development space, a child care facility and even an AC Hotel by Marriott Bentonville.
The child care facility alone will span 73,000 square feet and will support more than 500 children.
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It is part of the company's effort in trying to "pull [employees] together to drive productivity," she said.
Walmart elaborated on its website saying that the new campus will "encourage more collaboration and speed."
It will also be another selling factor for prospective employees.
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"I do think that it is going to be one more tool in our tool belt to attract and retain great talent to Northwest Arkansas," Marsiglio said.
The campus creates somewhat of a playful space to work, similar to that of the Googleplex, the corporate headquarters of Google and its parent company Alphabet Inc., which has amenities such as free laundry rooms, cafeterias and snack bars, as well as Meta's headquarters in Menlo Park, California.
Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California, is known as Apple Park, which is another expansive campus with several amenities.