
Reopened: Walmart Museum Restoration Reveals Sam Walton Hologram
After two years of restoration, the historic Walmart Museum, Spark Cafe, and Gift Shop reopen today (March 14) in Bentonville Square in Northwest Arkansas.
😍Expanded Gallery
😍New Interactive Exhibits
😍New Hologram Experience
Newly Restored Walmart Museum in Bentonville
The building was built in 1888 and houses the Walton 5 &10, the beginnings of an empire from the late Sam Walton. The total facility is 14,000 square feet, with gallery space expansion, third-floor meeting space, a replica brick facade, and a courtyard overlooking the town square. The restoration project was to make the building look as close to the original as it did in 1888.
New Hologram Experience and Interactive Displays
One of the new highlights of the museum is a hologram room with founder Sam Walton speaking using cutting-edge AI technology that sounds remarkably like him when he quotes some lines from his autobiography "Made In America. Other interactive displays educate visitors with historical facts about the business dating back to the 1940s and 1950s. The Waltons moved into the five-and-dime in Bentonville Square in 1950 but it wasn't until 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas that the first Walmart store was established. The rest is history as they say.
Updated Education Room
According to the website Talk Business, in the education room, visitors will learn about when President George H. W. Bush presented Sam with the Presidential Medal of Honor shortly before his death.
It's like stepping back in time when you see a replica of Sam Walton's office in the newly restored museum and his classic red and white Ford truck on display.
Several years ago, I met with family to tour the museum and thoroughly enjoyed it. I can't wait to see the new exhibits and restoration of the building, it was well worth the drive.

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Gallery Credit: Lisa Lindsey