After 20 years in the South Zanesville community, Walmart unveiled its fully remodeled store to a sizable crowd early Friday morning.

The Maysville Marching Band played tunes, there were food trucks, prizes given away and donations were made from Walmart to numerous local community groups and nonprofits.

Updates include fully remodeled restrooms, new lighting, more Walmart Pickup parking spaces and other various upgrades that managers say will enhance the overall customer experience.

Store Manager Penny Nickerson wasn’t born in the region but for the past 23 years, she has called this area home.

Nickerson was one of those to help open the South Zanesville Walmart 20 years ago, in August 2003, and she has assisted at the North Zanesville (Maple Ave.) Walmart. For the past nine years, she has been the manager at the South Zanesville location.

Beginning to show its age, Walmart chose to invest in updating the store, located along the Maysville Pike. Millions were invested in making the South Zanesville Walmart a resource for local customers, improving access to fresh items and expanding apparel selections.

Customers will also notice a brighter environment as lights have been upgraded to LEDs which Nickerson says are both more environmentally friendly, as they use significantly less power, but will also make shopping easier as the store is more properly lit.

Nearly 70 mannequins will showcase apparel options, which the store now features more of, including additional options for infants.

The restrooms have been fully remodeled and customers will notice a larger selection of fresh pet food. More choices of fresh infant food were also added following the remodel.

“It’s great,” said Nickerson. “I think our customers are really going to love it.”

To showcase the millions in upgrades, customers were invited early Friday morning to the front of the store for events and a ribbon cutting.

During the hour-long grand opening, the Maysville High School Band played various songs. The Zanesville High School JROTC presented the colors.

Remarks were made about Walmart’s commitment to the community and various local non-profits and community groups received over $8,000 in donations from the corporation, including Homeless Hands of Zanesville and Big Brothers Big Sisters.

The store now has 700 shopping carts, up from roughly 300 it had before the remodel, and there will be 32 Walmart Pickup parking spots, instead of the original 12, relocated to the south side of the store in a safer, more convenient location.

“We wanted to invite the community,” said Nickerson. “Especially the non-profits and community organizations who often don’t get the recognition they deserve, they do so much, it’s awesome and we are so proud to be able to help financially support them.”

While other stores around the state and country have been getting solar panels on the roofs of the Supercenters, and in some cases, covered solar panel parking lots, the South Zanesville Store does not appear to be getting either.

According to an analysis conducted by our news organization, only one Walmart location from Columbus east to Wheeling and south to Portsmouth has solar panels, the Walmart located at the northwest corner of Franklin County at the Olde Sawmill Square.

Walmart has committed to achieving zero emissions in its operations by 2040. In Florida, for example, the company worked with utility companies, advocates and regulators to help negotiate the largest shared solar program in the country, which authorized nearly 40 megawatts of clean energy for low-income Floridians.