Wal-Mart poised to enter small-grocers fray (CostCo, price, stores, best)
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Just one month after Tesco opened its first smaller-scale Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, Wal-Mart Corp. is reportedly planning a similar concept.
The Valley is a prime test market for the concept of "grab and go" grocery stores featuring fresher food, experts said. The area has rapid growth and plenty of health-oriented consumers who are pressed for time.
Grocery-industry experts have waited to hear about Wal-Mart's small-format plans since at least September, when the company posted openings for national managers to help create smaller, convenience-size stores.
Wal-Mart poised to enter small-grocers fray (broken link)
WalMart has been playing with the smaller store format for more than a decade, and I suspect it has yet to hit on a winning combination of low cost and high profits to make it work.
They certainly are exploring the Tesco concept since it has been so successful in Britain, and likely will be in the US as well, but I doubt they will do "small" very well. It just is too foreign to their corporate culture.
I'd love to hear from folks who live where these operations are being tried out.
WalMart has been playing with the smaller store format for more than a decade, and I suspect it has yet to hit on a winning combination of low cost and high profits to make it work.
They certainly are exploring the Tesco concept since it has been so successful in Britain, and likely will be in the US as well, but I doubt they will do "small" very well. It just is too foreign to their corporate culture.
I'd love to hear from folks who live where these operations are being tried out.
As they have not yet opened any stores as of yet - it will be a while.
That said, they have purchased, as I understand it, a bunch of old chain drug store sites - free standing buildings, so physically, these stores will be on the smallish size.
What square footage constitutes "smallish" size? In my neck of the woods they have Neighborhood Markets, and they're great. I don't buy most of my meats there, but the produce and other products are fresh and inexpensive.
Okay, I read the linked article and you are talking about 20,000 SF, which is about half the size of Wal-Mart's Neighborhood Markets. Since Phoenix has Supercenters, it stands to reason the new convenience stores will utilize Wal-Mart's distribution system. If they do these stores as well as they've done the Neighborhood Markets, they should be quite successful.
As they have not yet opened any stores as of yet - it will be a while.
That said, they have purchased, as I understand it, a bunch of old chain drug store sites - free standing buildings, so physically, these stores will be on the smallish size.
Interesting. One thing I hate about Walmarts and one reason I don't go there is the sheer size of them. Unlike most people, I don't like buying all of my stuff in one place. There is a family owned grocer in my neighborhood that has the best meat and poultry. The butcher will do custom cuts and the premade hot food selection is awesome. I don't think I'd ever switch.
Sheesh, whats next? Kosher meats, gourmet cheeses, boutique wineries?
Wal-Mart has a corporate culture that works for them, they cant own and dominate everything!
When they go into womens designer shoes,( a high-profit category) I am hanging up my Choo's!
They are building one near me which will be a "small" super center and look like a village store. The one good thing is that several businesses will be open nearby. A Lowe's recently opened near us and put two True Values out of buisness. One was pretty big by TV's standard.
I'm guessing these will do better in big cities or dense college towns or other spots where a huge Walmart footprint isn't feasible. If you're already in your car and driving, I don't know how much of a huge difference the size of the store will make. Who are they really competing against? Tesco? Trader Joes? People cite price as a reason for shopping at Walmart, so this will likely just shift business from full-sized Walmarts, I'd imagine.
Like Lisak, I don't mind going a few different places for my food. I make occasional Costco runs for bulk and shop at Trader Joes, but otherwise tend to frequent locally owned businesses. Given Chicago's history of resistance to Walmart, I doubt I'll see one of these joints soon, but I don't see any reason why I'd shop there anyway.
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