Walmart's on-campus child care center ready to open in Bentonville

Walmart is adding a day care and preschool as the second major amenity to open on its new campus next week.

Why it matters: The company wants its 350-acre campus in Bentonville to be a modern workplace that helps retain and attract talent. And that means making it an easy place to walk, bike, eat, work out , and to drop off or pick up kids.

Parents can also pop over to the center to join their kids for lunch or just to check on them, and there's a nursing room for breastfeeding.

State of play: The 73,000-square-foot Little Squiggles Children's Enrichment Center includes 38 classrooms, all of which open to outdoor playgrounds for ages 6 weeks to pre-K. The children also have access to STEM labs, movement rooms and outdoor gardening spaces.

• The center will take up to 500 children. It'll start off with about 210 when it opens Monday and gradually add more, center executive director Lauren Floyd told Axios during a media tour.

What they're saying: "Convenience is so huge," Walmart spokesperson Raven Washabaugh told Axios.

• "You're doing school dropoff in the morning — that is a full morning routine for most parents, and to know that if you forgot something, you can just run over here on campus," she said.

How it works: Bright Horizons , a company with 600 child care centers nationwide, will operate Little Squiggles. The company already runs the Sam's Club equivalent — the Sam's Club Kids Club that opened in 2020 and has space for 170 children, Floyd said.

• Walmart corporate employees will receive priority at Little Squiggles, but Sam's Club corporate employees may also be able to send their children if there is space.

Flashback: A new fitness center opened to all Walmart and Sam's Club employees in January.

• The plan is for all 15,000-ish of the company's corporate employees to be working on the new campus in 2025.

By the numbers: The price is $1,117 to $1,258 per child per month. Price ranges vary based on child stages, like infant versus preschool. The cost includes two snacks plus lunch daily.