Help wanted at retail giant

With the opening day about three months away, Carson City's Wal-Mart will begin hiring 350 employees Aug. 9.

The Wal-Mart Supercenter on the corner of East College Parkway and Hot Springs Road will open on Oct. 26.

Scott Yoder, the new Carson City store manager, said Thursday the store will employ about 425, but 55 to 75 of those employees will transfer from the Douglas County and Reno stores. About 70 percent of the workforce will be full-time.

"We'll be open 24 hours, so we'll have flexible scheduling," said Yoder, who lives in Dayton and transferred from the Wal-Mart on Kietzke Lane.

Supervisors will interview applicants at the Wal-Mart hiring Center, inside the Carson City Senior Citizens Center, from, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Aug. 9-12 and from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. Aug. 13.

Nevada Wal-Marts pay their employees about $10.23 an hour average, he said, but starting wages are dependent on experience. A team of 15 managers are transferring from surrounding district stores.

"We offer a competitive benefit package with profit sharing, which is a percentage based off earnings, health benefits, 401K and associates' discount for part-time and full- time workers."

The 203,000-square-foot supercenter, at 3200 Table Rock Drive, will have a full grocery, beauty salon, fun center, McDonald's restaurant, vision center, one-hour photo and garden center.

Yoder said this is a prototype store because it's using different merchandise and technology than a typical supercenter.

Carson City's supercenter will have a drive-through pharmacy and a deli order system where the customer can enter an order into a computer and come back to pick it up. The Wal-Mart will also have more "up-scale merchandise" in its home-organization and home-decor sections.

Yoder said the Wal-Mart distribution center now under construction off Interstate 80 in Storey County will serve this store.

"It will be a benefit when we have that up and running," he said. "We'll be able to get merchandise quickly in and out of the store."

The interview process has three steps. After an interview at the hiring center, applicants will be reviewed by another departmental supervisor at a later time.

"I think we'll be able to pull an adequate number of applicants."

-- Contact reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.