OAKLEAF – After months of road construction and stare from the excited eyes of Interstate 295 rush hour traffic, Walmart opened its newest metro Jacksonville location off Collins Road on Wednesday.

The 200,000 square foot store offers residents of Oakleaf and surrounding areas a new place to shop without going all the way to 103rd street or Branan Field Road. The super store has the facilities to do everything from oil changes to new glasses.

“The building has been in construction since last April,” said Brian Jackson, general manager. “Walmart has only had possession of the building for the last six weeks. The construction company owned it before that. Once they get it to a certain level and get the inside built, they turn it over to us.”

In that six weeks, the store set-up team went to work to transform an empty shell into a place of commerce and capitalism. On the first day, 20 trailers pulled in front of the store and unloaded all the fixtures the Walmart needed to be functional. In 24 hours, workers had all the fixtures upright and ready to hold goods.

The team was assembled over the course of 12 weeks using a hiring center off Wells Road, around 300 employees altogether. These associates will mostly start off around $9 per hour, with some positions making as much $19 an hour.

While this Walmart will seem familiar to the traditional Walmart shopper, it has some modern conveniences other do not – a liquor store, an automotive shop and a drive through pharmacy. The automotive shop uses a ‘state of the art’ technology that uses a hose to suck the oil from the car instead of draining it from the bottom. It saves the customers time and money, Jackson said.

The setup of the store went smoothly, which allowed the associates to arrange every box meticulously in perfect straight lines, and hang all the directory signs with precision. Jackson chalks the ease of the setup to his employees.

Walmart has also made available nearly $8,000 in grant money to give to local charities in the Oakleaf and Orange Park community. He believes that gaining the trust of the community is the first step to being a good neighbor.

On top of that, the store will also staff private security for the first few months of the opening to ensure everything goes smoothly, however even after those first initial months, employees have nothing to worry about due to the technology behind the modern security system that monitors the store, Jackson said.

Jackson started working with Walmart as a cart pusher in high school and now 25 years later he is the excited manager of a new store. He believes the fanfare and reception will be great, just based on the feedback he’s already received on the store’s Facebook page.

“I think the community is really going to get behind this store,” Jackson said. “I think we’re going to have a big turnout. I think we’ve hired a bunch of great associates, and we’re excited that we’re finally getting to open, and the associates have a chance to show what they’ve been working on for the last six weeks.”

The store is located at 7075 Collins Rd., Jacksonville.