Panama City Beach Walmart just gave one area family a sweet early Christmas surprise

Ebonee Burrell, The News Herald
·3 min read

PANAMA CITY — Christmas came early for one family that received a holiday surprise at a local Walmart pick-up location on Friday.

Anais and Alan Bearden of Santa Rosa Beach always use the Panama City Beach Walmart Pickup services because of the outstanding customer service they receive after each visit. During this Friday visit though, they were gifted free groceries and a one-year Walmart Plus membership by the store manager and employees.

“This Walmart has always been our favorite because the employees are always prompt and have our order ready, so it just makes it more convenient for us to come here,” Anais Bearden said. “It was such a nice surprise and since Christmas shopping gets expensive, it definitely helped us out a lot.”

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The Walmart store on Panama City Beach Parkway treated one of their pick up order customers Friday with a Christmas surprise. Alan and Anais Bearden, and their son Bennett, were greeted by Santa and his elves when they arrived to get their order. Walmart gave them their order for free and included a one year Walmart+ membership in the surprise. In the photo Alan holds his son, Bennett, as he gets a little time with Santa.

The Bearden’s said they began using Walmart’s pick-up services at the start of the pandemic to ensure their safety and they appreciated the mandated COVID-19 guidelines that all employees follow. The curbside pick-up option offers contactless grocery delivery to your car on purchases of $30 or more. It allows customers the convenience to shop for groceries using the Walmart website or app.

The couple was excited to have their two-year-old son, Bennett, experience the festivities on a regular grocery store trip. The employees brought out groceries dressed as reindeer, elves and Santa Claus while singing Christmas songs to spread holiday cheer and performed multiple songs while they drove off.

“This was a lot more than we expected for sure and the workers went all out for us. This definitely helps ease that end of the year stress because budgets get tight around the holidays for everyone,” Alan Bearden said.

The Beardens are now members of Walmart Plus, a $98 annual membership program that offers subscribers in-store and online benefits. Some of the benefits include free shipping with no minimum purchase required, free home delivery on orders over $35, discounts on fuel and a mobile scan & go option for a contactless checkout using a cell phone.

Store manager Jennifer Ross said this is the first year her store gifted a customer with the holiday surprise. The customer was randomly selected as someone that frequently used the Walmart pickup services and wasn’t already a Walmart Plus member.

The Walmart store on Panama City Beach Parkway treated one of their pick up order customers Friday with a Christmas surprise. Alan and Anais Bearden, and their son Bennett, were greeted by Santa and his elves when they arrived to get their order. Walmart gave them their order for free and included a one year Walmart+ membership in the surprise. In the photo the Bearden family poses for a photo with the Walmart elves and Santa.

“We try to have fun while we work because we are always busy, so this was a good way to have fun with our customers,” Ross said. “In a post-COVID world, it’s huge for us to be able to provide a service like our pick-up and delivery option and to have Walmart give us the resources to surprise one of our customers feels great.”

Ross said she hopes to continue the holiday surprise in the following years at her store. This store typically gives out “Thank You” gift bags with samples and promotional items to Walmart pick-up users to help engage with customers.

The employees sang Christmas songs around the store to continue spreading the holiday cheer for the in-store shoppers. In addition, they allowed customers to sing along with the crew and photo opportunities with Santa Claus.

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Panama City Beach Walmart gives free groceries to family for Christmas