Two for one : Wal-Mart cut the ribbon on the redesigned Rogers store and its new Latin chicken restaurant.

Benton County Daily Record

Posted on Thursday, October 30, 2008

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Daily Record photograph by Charles Fowler Roberto Denegri, president of Pollo Campero Restaurants, used his hands to help express his point while speaking at the Rogers Walnut Street Wal-Mart Supercenter during its Grand Reopening ceremonies Wednesday morning.

At the heart of the true retail attitude is the sale, and chief of the sales is the buy one, get one. Maybe each item is half price, or maybe one is free. You get twice as much as you pay for, or you pay half as much as you expect.

In the spirit of the buy one, get one, Wal-Mart set up its ribbon Wednesday, commemorating its redesigned Wal-Mart Store No. 1, in front of the new Pollo Campero that opened shop where McDonald’s used to be.

One ribbon cutting, two celebrations.

Of course, the Wal-Mart isn’t new. Its innards have just been rearranged. Electronics is in the back of the store. The pharmacy is by the grocery aisles. New paint has been applied, and new signs hang from the ceiling. And there is that new chicken place at the front of the store.

Outside, there is a fresh coat of paint and the retailer’s new logo, displayed high in individually lit letters — first blue and then white — followed by the yellow “ burst. ”

Wal-Mart lined up some executives and public speakers to help celebrate the completion of its redesign, but most came from Rogers or the Home Office in Bentonville. Pollo Campero, founded in Guatemala, brought in its CEO, Roberto Denegri, from its U. S. headquarters in Dallas and Guatemalan Consul General Julio Roberto Fong Perez from the Guatemalan Consulate in Houston.

The Pollo Campero — it can be translated as Country Chicken — in Rogers is the first in Arkansas for the company and the second inside a Wal-Mart. It is the company’s 44 th restaurant in the United States.

When talking about the restaurant’s relationship with Wal-Mart, which was signed in November 2007, Denegri spoke like a man realizing the American dream.

“ By doing this, we know that everything is possible for us, ” Denegri said.

As typical with a ribboncutting ceremony, executives and managers honored those who helped with the projects, naming each person responsible for the renovation and the restaurant. The retailer then extended the party to its customers, offering free breakfasts and drinks. The party will continue Saturday, when Olympic gold medalist and “ Dancing with the Stars” contestant Misty May-Treanor will sign autographs at the Walnut Street store from 10 a. m. to noon.

But first, even before officials pulled out the scissors, there had to be a cheer. Now, Wal-Mart has changed its logo and removed the star that once separated the two parts of its name. It is now one word, at least on the storefront. The company name still has a dash. The retailer has long since abandoned the tilde, the curved line that once stood between Wal and Mart.

But during the cheer — the famous Wal-Mart cheer started by Sam Walton himself — they still include the “ squiggly. ”

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