New Centerville Wal-Mart makes 5 for Davis County

CENTERVILLE — What is probably one of the most pleasant-looking Wal-Marts opened Wednesday in Centerville — the second one to open in Davis County this year.

The new store, which brings the county's total to five, is known as a Supercenter, sports three colors of stucco, two kinds of brick, stone and columns and is more reminiscent of a shopping mall or town-center storefront than the traditional gray, blue and white cinder-block warehouses Wal-Mart has been known to build.

"It's been a lot of fun and hard work putting our beautiful store together," said store manager Amy Teichert before the store opened.

The store, located at 200 W. Parrish Lane, will be open 24 hours and features tire and lube service, pharmacy, grocery and apparel.

The crowd waiting to enter the store at 8 a.m. mostly comprised Wal-Mart employees. Nowhere to be found were any protesters.

From the time it was announced the store would make a home in a former alfalfa field, residents spoke out against the store, claiming it would negatively affect the city, traffic and area businesses.

Several traffic studies in 2004 — one by Wal-Mart, one by Centerville and one by an opposition group — showed that signals will need to be improved at 400 West and Parrish Lane, said Centerville city manager Steve Thacker. Because the Utah Department of Transportation's policies won't allow the signal to be changed until after Wal-Mart is open, the department will conduct a "warrant study" to gauge the impact the store will have on traffic.

In the meantime, Thacker said in a news release, Centerville police will monitor the intersection during peak times and provide manual traffic control as needed.

Back in April 2004, most of the 500 people in attendance at a public hearing turned out to oppose a conditional-use permit for the store.

Afterward, it was common to drive through Centerville and see people wearing silk-screened T-shirts with a red circle and diagonal slash through the words "Wal-Mart."

But the city eventually ruled that Wal-Mart has a right to operate in the city's business district, which is already home to Target, The Home Depot, various restaurants and eventually a Kohl's.

Construction began on the 204,270-square-foot building in September 2006. That building now has about 380 employees.

Now, Davis County is home to five Wal-Marts: Layton Supercenter, which opened in 1991; Clinton, which opened in 2004; a Layton Neighborhood Market, which also opened in 2004; Syracuse, which opened in January; and Centerville.

That's pretty good coverage around Davis County, Teichert said.