The first two of eight Wal-Mart stores coming to Utah attracted crowds Wednesday at grand openings in Tooele and St. George.
For 12 hours, 13 Tooele checkout counters poured out seemingly endless lines of customers carting away merchandise during the celebration. Company district officers were aided at the openings by city, county and Chamber of Commerce leaders.Shoppers' suggestions were picked up by store employees trained in favoring the public's whims.
The events were the first in the Mountain West for discount retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The Utah stores also monitored Utah shopping habits during pre-opening sales.
Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Ark., is blanketing the Western states with new shopping centers, Utahns learned Wednesday. Besides the Tooele and St. George stores, others at Cedar City, Vernal and Price are under construction and more are planned at Layton, Riverdale and 5400 S. Redwood Road in the Salt Lake Valley.