Several councilors expressed discontent with the condition of Walmart’s parking lot.

Seventeen widened spaces on the side of the building will accommodate the pickup area.

PITTSFIELD, Mass.— The City Council OKed an expansion of Walmart, but not without pushback on parking lot conditions and the promotion of online ordering.

The company requested to amend its site plan by converting about 1,600 square feet of the Pittsfield garden center, which is planned to be enclosed for an online ordering pickup center.  As part of a nationwide effort, the store will undergo remodeling.

"They basically create an entire space that's basically like almost creating a very small fulfillment store so that when people do their online ordering, it can be filled faster," said Greg DiBona of Bohler Engineering, the firm hired by Walmart.

"Right now, when you go online, you order your grocery order, typically about four hours that you have to wait before you can come in and get it. The intent is, once this is done, the delivery to the customer will be much faster."

He explained that the most popular items will be in a small back-of-house area for employees to fulfill without having to enter the main store.  Seventeen widened spaces on the side of the building will accommodate the pickup area.

Several councilors expressed discontent with the condition of Walmart’s parking lot.  Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey described it as looking like "crap" and said any upgrade is welcome.

"Going to Walmart in Pittsfield versus going to Walmart and some other communities, it doesn't feel like a nice place to go," Ward 6 Councilor Dina Lampiasi said.

"I’m just going to say what we're all thinking. It's not a well-maintained property. The parking lot doesn't really seem like Walmart cares very much about the experience of the guest."

She pointed out that the parking lot at Market 32 is not in the same shape, though both have the same landlord.

Councilor At Large Earl Persip III agreed.

"Walmart's parking lot is in rough shape. It seems like it is," he said.

"..I know with this council. They need to do better, and if they don't, somebody could easily vote no on something like that over that. I won't do that today, because I don't think it's been communicated."

DiBona reported that the project includes some pothole and crack sealing.

"This is not a full pavement project. We're not ripping up the entire parking lot and putting down all new pavement, but we will fix the areas of potholes, sinkholes, really damaged asphalt that gets assessed and basically added to the scope when we're doing that [pre-construction] walk," he explained.

"So it will look a lot better."

Ward 2 Councilor Brittany Noto and Lampiasi voted in opposition.

"I think it's going to be hideous," Noto said in response to the signage plan that directs customers to the pickup area.

"I want to make it clear that my concerns are not just aesthetic. The petitioner stated that the goal of this is Walmart is looking 10 years in the future. Those are your words. We should also look 10 years in the future for our city and for our residents when we assess this," she later added. 

"So, I'm hearing there's going to be more efficiency, it's going to be faster, but they're not hiring any new staff, and they're just moving things in the store from one place to another. Okay, so I think of every time I go into Walmart in the self-checkout, at least half of the machines are always down. There's one person there who can barely handle that of the remaining aisles or checkout lines; you're lucky if you get three, maybe four open total. The amount of time it takes to have a shopping experience in person is horrendous."

"…It sounds to me like Walmart wants to turn into a fulfillment center. The only way that this becomes more efficient and faster, and better is if everybody starts ordering online, and in an age where the shopping experience in person for the consumer is constantly downgraded and becoming worse and worse, I can see why multi-billion dollar industries and companies like Walmart want people to only order online."

She asked councilors if they want customers to have to order online to get things efficiently or to have a store where they can shop in person and speak to sales associates.

"I don't like Walmart. I don't go to Walmart. I'm going to be the first one to say it up here. It's a terrible experience," Lampiasi said.

"I will not go there. Every time I have gone there, and finally broken down and done it, it's been a bad experience."

Councilor At Large Kathy Amuso requested that some accessible spaces be relocated from the garden center and moved closer to the front of the store.  One of the reasons Lampiasi cited for having a poor experience at the store was cramped parking, which is hard to handle with two small children.  She pointed out that some other stores have family parking.

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