Walmart Unicity Renovations 2025

I have pointed out that the Walmart at Unicity is one of the smallest and until 2025 the one most in need of renovations. It is obvious Canadian execs realized that this year they had to get things with Costco opening up down the street in months. Since the company seems unable to expand the footprint of their store, they had to reorganize it since it the narrowest of aisles and the poorest laid out of all the stores in Winnipeg.

The renovations have been agonizing for residents of Charleswood/St. James and Headingly. The store is hard to navigate already so the moving of the pharmacy, floor improvements has led to wide confusion. Where the pharmacy has gone is a huge upgrade. The old location was poorly thought out.

Unicity Walmart still lacks in the deli section that the Taylor and Kenaston locations have. I can't have been to the Polo Park location recently. It is, by far, the most aggressive a Walmart in the city. From the parking lot to the grocery aisle, you are likely to be bowled over by some sharp elbowed person. Unicity has more polite crowds although the narrow aisles are there to create maximum delays and requires the patience of a saint.

The grocery aisles being constructed on the west side of the store are very long. I'm not sure if this is the final configuration so I won't pass final judgement on the store at this time.  I have complained about how Unicity Smart Complex and Walmart have shown their age over the past few years. A few stores have closed and a few opened that are probably better attracting people seven days a week. 

The the coming Costco has a lot of businesses spooked along Portage Avenue. And they should be. Gas stations in St. James have higher prices than most places in the city. Costco will make them take notice. The same applies for car dealers, tire/repair shops and automotive parts people who will have no choice but to compare prices to the big retailer. Walmart was badly in need of an upgrade lest they lose their grocery and pharmacy business to Costco.

Safeway and Sobeys have also had upgrades but I suspect they might have to do more. Post Covid, Portage still has gaps but there are apartments and some other buildings slowly starting to spring up. The former Perkins/RnR restaurant will be turned into apartments shortly. Platinum Auto (formerly Holiday Chev Olds) closed and relocated across town. It is a large site so expect to hear something soon.

There is a lot of building around Costco itself which could affect restaurants along Portage. Walmart could not let an upgrade wait any longer so they have poured hundreds of thousands into the work. This might be a stopgap. I say this because Kenaston Walmart had to upgrade several times in competition with the Costco there. The big problem is that Unicity site is just not large enough for more. Until then, we will have to be happy with an upgraded store for Walmart in Unicity.