Walmart on Salem Road is moving to a 24/7 schedule Nov. 23 after a successful 18 months in business.
Store Manager Ron Tillman said the move will be permanent and is based on growing business.

“A lot of shoppers have requested it,” Tillman said Friday. “Business is continually growing.”

The move to a 24/7 schedule will take place a week before Thanksgiving to allow shoppers additional time during the holiday season.

Other Walmart stores in the area (Covington and Conyers) are already 24/7 stores. The Salem Road store’s current hours are 6 a.m. to midnight, daily.

More than 250 people are employed in the 176,000-square-foot store, Tillman said.

Former county chairman Kathy Morgan said previously the rule of thumb for an established Walmart Supercenter — one that’s been open for three to five years — is that it will generate $1 million in revenue for each 1 percent of sales tax.

County Commissioner J.C. Henderson said at Tuesday’s meeting that the Board of Commissioners received considerable criticism in 2007 for approving Walmart’s plans to build a store at the intersection of Salem and Brown Bridge roads. However, he said the success justifies the move, noting the store provides jobs for hundreds of “regular folks” who may not be “Baxter (International) material” — referring to the $1 billion pharmaceutical manufacturing plant locating on the Newton/Walton county border.

Walmart purchased the 32.04-acre parcel for $1.67 million in April 2007, according to the Newton County Tax Assessor’s website. The Tax Assessor’s office values the land at $4 million and the building at $7.08 million, according to its website.