Walmart is 3D printing the future of big box stores

Walmart once famously hyped its “low price guarantee,” showcasing how the retailer’s scale helped customers save money. Now, in a push to cut its own costs, Walmart is 3D printing its stores. For the last two years, contractors working for Walmart have used 3D-printed construction at a handful of sites across the U.S. The walls for five additions to existing stores in Tennessee, Missouri, Alabama, and Arkansas have been completed in this fashion so far. It’s the country’s largest deployment of 3D-printed architecture in the commercial sector. The retailer’s scale is catalyzing the growth and adoption of the technology, which promises to construct buildings faster and more affordably. Digital fabrication meets big-box stores [Photo: FMGI] The use of 3D printing for construction has mostly focused on residential structures, owing to their smaller size and the nascent state of the technology. Expanding 3D printing to the commercial sector could help scale up the industry. Meanwhile, completing larger structures with bigger budgets could help prove the utility of the process—and even help bend the cost curve. To complete its 3D-printed builds, Walmart partnered with Alquist, the maker…