Walmart closing in on contractor

SAUGUS – A Walmart spokesperson said the company is “moving ahead” with its Saugus project and is hoping to pick a contractor soon.”We’ve been out for bids and I think we’re close to awarding the bids,” said Walmart spokesman Bill Wertz. “If we haven’t already, it will be soon.”Wertz said he doesn’t have a specific schedule for when construction would start, but noted it takes “a month or so” to start once a contractor is picked.Walmart announced their intention to build a new store on Route 1 in Saugus nearly two years ago. But since then, no work has been done on the site.Wertz said to his knowledge the plans haven’t changed, but couldn’t say why it has taken so long.”It’s just a matter of getting the plans to the point where we’re ready to go out for bids,” he said. “I don’t know if that had to do with internal discussions about what we should do and what should be in the new store. I think we’re at the point now where we’re eager to move ahead and we’re looking forward to opening the store.”A Walmart fact sheet states the new 114,000 square foot store will create around 125 jobs and will feature both a full supermarket with a bakery, meat department and frozen goods along with a traditional Walmart store. The average wage for a regular, full-time, hourly associate is $13.11 per hour, according to the fact sheet.While there is no opening date yet, Wertz said it takes about a year to build a Walmart.”I think we’re talking about sometime mid-next year if things go well,” he said. “I always hate to make a prediction so I would just say I hope to start as soon as we can. We know from what we hear people are looking forward to an affordable shopping opportunity in the community and we will have that plus the opportunity for some new jobs, which is always welcome.”Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].