Wal-Mart Hitting the Gas with 'Neighborhood Market'

As reported on icsc.org, Wal-Mart announced plans to nearly double the number of its Neighborhood Market supermarkets over the next three years. At present, the company operates 185 of these stores, including 30 in Puerto Rico under the Amigo banner.
 
Wal-Mart executives say, but the 42,000-square-foot Neighborhood Market stores will help revitalize same-store growth after several sluggish years, and will also ease entry into urban markets that have scant room for a Supercenter.


Neighborhood Market stores are easier to develop than the Supercenters, which take as long as seven years while the Neighborhood Market stores take just a year or two. Walmart’s real estate committee has approved 180 new Neighborhood Market stores, roughly 100 of which are to open next year. The company expects to have about 300 in operation by 2013.


Wal-Mart is also working on a smaller version of the Supercenters. Walmart Express, as the smaller format is called, will target urban in-fill locations.
icsc.org Story
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For more information on Walmart's Neighborhood Market and the grocery industry, visit David Goodman's (Equity Retail) blog Running with Equity Retail.