Man walks into a Walmart in Athens, Tennessee, and is stunned that something is very different about this one. Then he runs his hands along the wall

A TikTok user going by the name Jesse-18tolife posted a video that appears to show an unusual section of a Walmart store in Athens, Tennessee.

In the clip, Jesse walks up to a portion of the building’s exterior wall and runs his hand along it, pointing out a distinctly layered, ridged texture. “Have you ever seen a 3D-printed Walmart?” he asks in the video, which carries the on-screen caption, “They’re 3D printing Walmarts now.”

Jesse explains in the video that a friend had previously told him about the wall. “Buddy of mine mentioned to me a while back that they had 3D-printed this,” he says. “Well, I guess they, you know, they did it with the robot and the cement, all that stuff. But yeah, pretty neat.” The close-up footage shows what appears to be a two-tone gray wall with clearly visible horizontal ridges running across its surface.

According to a January 2026 report by Tom’s Hardware, the wall Jesse was looking at is indeed 3D-printed. The section is reportedly part of an expansion project carried out by construction technology company Alquist 3D, based in Greeley, Colorado, in partnership with construction firm FMGI.

Alquist 3D’s concrete printer behind the Walmart expansion in Tennessee

According to Tom’s Hardware, Alquist 3D uses a machine called the A1X, which is built on a KUKA robotic arm fitted with a 1.25-inch nozzle. The printer lays down inch-thick layers of specially mixed concrete at a speed of 200mm per second, per the report. The concrete material, supplied by a company called Sika, apparently contains recycled fibers mixed with Portland cement, which are used to control cracking as the material cures.

The Tennessee job was reportedly the first in what Alquist 3D and FMGI describe as a series of more than a dozen Walmart expansions planned across the country. According to the outlet, the Athens, Tennessee, project began in August, with daytime temperatures exceeding 110°F. 

Vice President of Construction at Walmart, LB Johnson, told AEC Business, “Our approach to innovation is designed to optimize processes and simplify field operations – leading to reductions in project costs and timelines. This will enable speed to market for our customers and help accelerate evolution in the construction industry.”

The team initially ran into problems, but eventually found that working at night helped both the workers and the concrete material, which has an optimal working temperature range of 40 to 95°F, according to the report. Once those early issues were resolved, the 8,000-square-foot expansion reportedly took just 140 hours to print. Similar first-time Walmart experiences have recently gone viral, like a European man calling an Austin store a tourist attraction.

Not everyone who saw the video appeared impressed by what the wall looked like. A TikTok commenter named Chris J wrote, “Looks terrible ngl.” Another user similarly commented, “it looks awful.” A user named Brandon took a more humorous angle, writing, “No one tell dollar general.”

Some viewers raised more substantive concerns about the technology itself. A commenter asked, “What could possibly go wrong with this,” to which a reply responded: “a lot unfortunately, reason why these aren’t common. heat cycling, uneven curing, tons of natural seams for the weight to crack along. The material science just isnt there.”

According to Tom’s Hardware, Alquist 3D’s CTO, Andrew Lycas acknowledged that the material costs more than conventional construction materials, which offsets some of the labor and time savings. The A1X can supposedly build walls up to 20 feet high, but cannot print roofs, as there is no compatible support material for overhead concrete printing. Other customers have also shared surprising Walmart finds, like a woman who walked out with dinner for five for under $15.