Less than 48 hours before opening the store that will never close, Carolyn Davis was nowhere to be found, and yet, she seemed to be everywhere at the same time.
The store manager for the Fallston Walmart was seen in a back room, by the front door and between the aisles, some of which were still bare.
"They'll be filled in less than 48 hours," Davis said.
Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.
The perishable items can only be stocked so soon.
Everything else, though, was in its place: Enough containers of Tide to do a small country's daily laundry; the original iPad (no iPad 2? "Hopefully it will be here by Wednesday," Davis said); a home gardening section; and food and a pharmacy side-by-side.
Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.
The supermarket is just one part of the store. But its nearby counterparts—specifically the —does not seem to bother Davis.
"It's competition," the Forest Hill resident said. "Competition's good."
Davis previously worked at the Walmart in White Marsh. But she's been preparing to open the Fallston megastore since Dec. 26—a career move that allows her to work in her home county. She will be joined by 468 other employees.
"It's a new opportunity," she said. "We're ready to get the doors open."
Shopping is set to begin Wednesday at 8 a.m., after a 7:30 ribbon-cutting ceremony that is scheduled to include a National Anthem performance by School students.
As part of an invitation-only pre-opening event Tuesday, Walmart representatives are also expected to present $12,500 in grants to the following organizations:
- Anna’s House
- Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company
- Civil Air Patrol Honor Guard
- Civil Air Patrol Maryland Wing Honor Guard
- Fallston High School
- Harford County Deputy Sheriff's Benevolent Fund
- Harford Family House
- Humane Society of Harford County
- Mountain Christian Church and
- Youth's Benefit Elementary School.
The store also features a full-time optometrist in the vision center, a money center that offers check cashing, money orders and international transfers, a SmartStyle Family Hair Salon, and in case all that grocery shopping makes customers hungry, a Subway across from the 25 cash registers.
In the final hours before serving its first customer, Harford County's newest superstore was preparing for the hype.
"I just think this is a one-stop shop," David said. "In a community, if you're working, you want to get what you need and then want to go do what else you plan to do."
