Wal-Mart closes on purchase of 40-acre site in Caroline County

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Blackwood Development have concluded the purchase of about 40 acres in Caroline County at the intersection of Route 639 and Green Road.

Richmond-based Blackwood will build a superstore for the giant retailer at the Ladysmith site and plans to develop several outparcels for retail and commercial investment.

According to Caroline County’s Department of Economic Developer and Tourism, the start date for the project has been pushed back to 2018.  Blackwood plans to deliver the developed site to Wal-Mart in 2019 with the superstore opening in 2020.

The county said in a press release that the delay is due to Wal-Mart’s internal deliberations and decision-making process.  The county continues to press for an opening at the earliest possible date.

Upgrades of Route 639 still are scheduled to proceed in support of the project and for the overall development of the corridor.

Wal-Mart announced in January that it’s closing 269 stores worldwide, including Express format stores, so that it can concentrate on its supercenters and e-commerce business. In the U.S., 154 stores will be closed, but none of the stores on the January list were located in Virginia.