ALBUQUERQUE — Just like multiple Walmarts across the country, Eloy Baca’s location has a slightly different look as part of the retail chain’s broader redesign.

Being selected among nearly 1,000 locations nationwide, Baca, the store manager for the Cottonwood Walmart, made sure aisles like the bedding and clothing areas are kept together and not scattered out too much. There’s also a new item pickup/delivery area on the side of the building, new signs with bolder typeface to point customers to the exact item’s location and a mobile app that’ll lead customers through the store and to the new self-checkout registers smoothly.

Eloy Baca, the store manager of the Walmart at 10224 Coors Bypass, showcases the redesigned bedding aisle as part of the company’s goal of making it easier for customers to search for certain items and improve their shopping experience. (Photos by Matt Hollinshead/Observer)

“I was excited when (it was) announced that we were going to be a remodel store. It took a lot of work, but I think in the long run, it’s paying off,” Baca said. “I really like the new layout, the new design, the whole setup that just took place.”

The goal’s simple: Make it easier for customers to find everything they need, and in turn improve their shopping experience.

“We were trying to gather a bigger range of customers to ensure they had options for total-store (needs), not just groceries,” Baca said. “It was (previously) a little harder for them to find merchandise, based off of the old layout. This layout’s a lot easier for them to shop.”

Baca’s store, at 10224 Coors Bypass NW in Albuquerque, was among the first locations nationwide to start remodeling on July 5, 2021. The store completed Phase 1 of that redesign in October 2021.

According to Walmart’s website, airport way-finding systems inspired the company’s new item locator signs because the larger lettering is geared toward helping somebody move along quickly.

“They’re able to come and find it faster. That way, they can save money and also save time,” Baca said.

More than 15 New Mexico Walmart locations, both Super Centers and smaller Neighborhood Markets, are scheduled to be remodeled later this year, although it’s unknown which locations will be selected.

There are 53 locations statewide, including two in Rio Rancho: a Neighborhood Market at 1115 NM 528 and a Super Center at 901 Unser Blvd.

As part of Walmart’s store-wide redesign, the company added new self-registers with a mobile scan-and-go app for customers like the ones seen here at the Cottonwood Walmart.

Airport wayfinding systems inspired Walmart’s new item locator signs, seen here at the Cottonwood store, because the larger lettering sizes are geared toward helping shoppers move along quickly.