Wal-Mart will open more than 1,500 stores in the US in the next few years, including Supercenters with full grocery sections and smaller Neighborhood Markets.
The world’s largest retailer also announced that 1,800 of some 2,000 US Supercenters will be remodelled, using wider aisles, new flooring, television wall displays and other features to encourage consumers already shopping for basic provisions to purchase more fashions, electronics, and fancier foods.
Neighborhood Markets were launched in 1998 to compete against traditional supermarkets and drugstores, attracting consumers who avoid Supercenters when seeking a few grocery items.
The concept targets the middle ground and helps Wal-Mart gain entry into tighter neighbourhoods that lack real estate for big-box stores. Markets typically stock 20,000 to 23,000 items – about a fifth of the Supercenters – and in addition to selling dry groceries also have fresh produce, dairy, meat and deli departments. There are already ten such Markets in Florida.
