Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Friday morning, the Nicholasville Walmart held a grand reopening to celebrate its complete remodel, bringing the store’s fixtures and layout to the standard of updated Walmarts across the country. The remodel includes a mural that represents the city done by one of the store’s associates, marking the store as part of the neighborhood.

People from all over the community, including Walmart staff, managerial staff, associates from other stores and local leaders attended to celebrate Walmart’s contribution to Nicholasville since its opening in 1988. Jessamine County Sheriff Kevin Grimes, Nicholasville Mayor Alex Carter, and Judge-Executive David West were among some of the local leaders in attendance who spoke to the crowd, thanking everyone from the associates to the construction team for their work on the renovation.

“The store is clean. It makes the associates’ pride and morale go up. So, to have this and be able to give this to our community is really a great thing,” said Store Manager Allen Dixon.
It’s been over 18 years since the store’s last complete remodel, and it has been canceled several times over the past two decades for various reasons.

Dixon called the remodel a “multi-million dollar investment.” The size of the building is unchanged, but everything within it has. The store now has a much larger electronics section, a reinvented apparel section, added concrete floors, added twice as many self-checkout lanes and changed every feature.

Lucas Hammond is a part-time cashier and artist in Nicholasville and is on academic leave from Asbury University and was pursuing a degree in graphic design.

Hammond created the mural himself through digital art and included different pillars of the county, like the courthouse, horses, Wilmore and R.J. Corman.

Dixon had been a family friend of Hammond’s long before he started working in the store in 2020 and before Dixon became the store manager, so he was familiar with Hammond’s artistic abilities.

“I just thought it would be cool to do something that sticks around a little bit. It’s been really fun,” he said.

Dixon said this remodel isn’t the first investment the store has made. He said that since the store’s opening in 1988, it has invested in its people. Five of the store’s current associates were on the original team of staff that helped open the store.

To continue this investment, one of those associates, Therol Horton, helped present gifts to multiple city institutions.

East Jessamine High School received $1,500, the Nicholasville FireFighter Toy Drive was given $2,000, the Bluegrass Community Action Partnership received $2,000 and the Military Freedom Fund Fest was given $1,500.