Walmart will open over 150 stores in the U.S. over the next five years while remodeling 650 existing ones across 47 states and Puerto Rico — "creating tens of thousands of jobs," the retailer announced Wednesday.

The big picture: The first two stores will open in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, and Atlanta, Georgia, this spring and the remodeling projects will occur over the next 12 months, Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner wrote in a blog post Wednesday.

• "We're also finalizing construction plans on 12 new projects we intend to start this year, along with converting one of our smaller locations to a Walmart Supercenter."
• Walmart, the world's largest company by revenue, last opened a new store in November 2021.

Of note: The remodeled stores "will reflect Walmart's Store of the Future concept, featuring improved layouts, expanded product selections and innovative technology to help our associates better support our customers and make shopping more convenient and enjoyable," Furner said.

• "Customers love this concept in the places we've already rolled it out, and we're excited to transition more and more of our fleet."

By the numbers: The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company that made $160.8 billion in third-quarter earnings operates 4,616 Walmart stores and employs about 1.6 million people in the U.S., according to the latest available information.

State of play: Walmart revealed a three-for-one stock split on Tuesday as its shares approached the all-time highs.

• The retail giant announced this month it would give store managers stock grants on top of new pay raises this year.
• "These efforts represent millions of dollars in capital investment of labor, supplies and tax revenue, which benefit their respective communities," Furner noted about the company's expansion plans.

Between the lines: Edward Yruma, an analyst at the investment bank Piper Sandler, told the New York Times the decision to open new stores and remodel others was in line with Walmart's pick-up and in-store commitments at a time when e-commerce was a popular option.

• "As we settle into the new normal, what we've come to is that the consumer likes great, physical retail locations," he said.
• Craig Johnson, founder of the retail consultancy Customer Growth Partners, told the NYT the move was "a huge vote of confidence in the American consumer."

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Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.