Walmart, which has been sprouting brick by brick on Apex Peakway over the last several months opens today at 8 a.m.

The store, at 3151 Apex Peakway in Broadstone Station, is 176,000 square feet, is open 24-hours a day, seven days a week and features a full line of groceries, more than 30 retail departments, a pharmacy, a vision center and a digital photo processing center.

Construction on the project started in the spring.

With its completion, it joins stores in Cary, Holly Springs and Fuquay-Varina.

Signed tenants surrounding the Apex location are McDonald's, SmartStyle Family Hair Salon and a branch of WoodForest Bank.

Walmart hired 420 associates, earning an average of $11.42 an hour.

Hiring began Aug. 3, with most employees starting in September, readying the store for its fall opening.

The Apex location also employs environmentally friendly features like recycled cement floors, skylights and low-flow toilets. It will be managed by Teresa Drake, a 20-year Walmart veteran who started as an hourly supervisor in Fayetteville.

Active Data sold to Diversified

MORRISVILLE Active Data Services, which provides document and billing services to health-care, insurance and financial customers, was acquired by Diversified Information Technologies.

Most of ADS' 105 employees will stay in Morrisville. "This isn't the typical slash-and-burn type acquisition," said Diversified CEO Scott Byers.

The deal is part of Diversified's strategy of expanding its business in the "Maine to Miami corridor" and gives the company a strong foothold in the Triangle, Byers said. ADS' clients include Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, College Foundation, AICPA and Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions.

Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. Diversified had 2008 revenue of about $35 million and ADS had about $15 million.

ADS was founded in 2002 when CEO Kenneth Eller led a leveraged buyout of the Triangle operations of a bankrupt Michigan company. Eller will stay with the new company for two years as a consultant. When he started ADS, the plan all along was to find a buyer within seven years, he said.

The combined company expects to see significant future growth, fueled mostly by health-care reform and the push to electronic medical records, Eller said. "That will be a powerful ingredient for this company."

Tax Center opens in Grace Park

MORRISVILLE The Tax Center moved from Chapel Hill Road to the Grace Park development, at the intersection of Morrisville-Carpenter Road and Davis Drive.

The Tax Center specializes in individual tax returns and accounting for small businesses. The move was designed to be closer to the majority of its clients and to add space, according to owner Stephen W. McKown. He said his company was looking to add employees during the upcoming tax season.

Jersey Mike's opens in Cary

CARY Jersey Mike's Subs opens today at 280 Meeting St.

To commemorate the event, the store will host a fundraiser through Oct. 18 with proceeds supporting the Cary Elementary School Shade Structure, a program that provides proper sun protection for students.

Anyone who purchases a fundraising coupon will get a free regular-sized submarine sandwich with a $1 donation.

Store hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sundays 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.