What it’s Like Inside a NJ Walmart as it Reopens After a Fire

I just experienced the weirdest Walmart shopping trip ever.

Normally, a sentence like that makes you think of those funny videos that you see online of people at Walmart in their pajamas (or worse), but that's not the case here.

Fire at Walmart in Egg Harbor Twp.

Back on the night of May 6th, an electrical fire broke out at Walmart on the Black Horse Pike in Egg Harbor Township.

Firefighters and cops arrived to find heavy smoke from a rear stock room and smoke was throughout the building. One employee was checked out for smoke inhalation after trying to put out the fire, according to WPVI-TV.

Egg Harbor Township Walmart Reopens

Following the blaze, the store was closed for several days but it reopened this past Tuesday "with a limited selection."

So, today, I decided to take a trip to the EHT Walmart to see exactly what it looked like inside and to find out exactly what a "limited selection" was in a store that is usually overflowing with merchandise.

It was a weird experience.

What Shoppers Can Expect

On the outside, you'd never know anything happened, except that on the side of the store, there are several construction trailers, pallets of stuff, dumpsters, and big trucks.

• READ MORE: A Look Inside a Sears Store in NJ that Closed Almost 7 Years Ago

On the inside, it's a different story.

While Walmart hasn't officially confirmed this, social media posts said just about everything in the store had to be removed and/or thrown away due to all of the smoke. And that appears to be true.

As you'll see below, many aisles are empty except for a few completely random items. I suppose those things were the first to arrive and they were quickly put back out on the sales floor.

And stop and think for a moment about having to empty an entire Walmart and then restock practically every item while the store is open. If you visit the EHT store, you'll see more employees than you've ever seen in a Walmart before. It's a massive, all-hands-on-deck effort. And it's certainly not easy.

The store itself looks fine and you can't smell any smoke. What you will notice, however, is that the entire middle of the store is walled off with giant floor-to-ceiling sheets of thick plastic.

• READ MORE: This New Jersey Shopping Center is a Time Capsule from the '90s

If you're planning a visit because you need to do some shopping, here's a rough idea of what you'll find (as of lunchtime Wednesday, May 14th).

• The food side looks pretty well-stocked. Some products aren't on the shelves, but that side of the store looks like any Walmart on any typical day. If you need something, it's probably there.

• Cosmetics, personal care items, medicine, etc. -- a smaller selection of products. For example, if you're looking for a specific brand of shampoo, it may or may not be there. The store's pharmacy is open.

• Seasonal items, like patio accessories, grass seed, fertilizers, etc. -- a very limited selection.

• The toy department has an even smaller number of things on the shelves.

And then there's really nothing else. There are no clothes for sale, no electronics, no furniture. All of those items are behind the giant plastic walls.

But, again, there are dozens and dozens and dozens of workers putting this store back together, so in a few days, it'll probably look like nothing happened at all.

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