Was there for opening day at 7:30 this morning and I think so was all of Darlington. The mayor spoke, some higher-ups at Walmart did also, as did the store manager.
Onto the store itself.
It is one of Walmart's new "Neighborhood Supercenters" (a term I am creating) to describe a smaller Supercenter. It is 122,000 square feet, as opposed to the 200,000-225,000 square feet of the standard Supercenter of the last 15 years or so.
The grocery section is like a Walmart Neighborhood Market in design and layout. A slightly larger bakery section and a larger packaged meats section. Past that, not much to report here.
Gone is most of the awful orange and blue interior colors of most Walmarts these days. It's been replaced with text on a stark white background and Earth tones.
Also gone is the Subway/McDonald's and the nail salon. There is also no separate "home/pharmacy" entrance. No auto center either. There is a garden center, but it is much smaller.
For the people of Darlington, whose options for groceries include such failing grocery chains like Bi-Lo, Food Lion, Piggly Wiggly and lackluster options like IGA, this store is a home run. No longer will they have to drive 10 miles to Florence to shop at a Walmart Supercenter.
For the rest of us, Walmart is not offering anything new here. The biggest issue, which can be fixed, is they have way too many skus and the aisles are too close together. They've essentially made a giant Walmart Express, where the aisles are about half the space of a normal Supercenter and have tight corners. A better strategy would be to curate the assortment more thoroughly and offer more space. Walmart needs to somehow get the standard Supercenter out of their DNA for these new stores and think about what people really want.
The other issue is this store is in no way addressing any current grocery trends. There is no fresh strategy being executed here (prepared meals, etc.) There is also no sit-down "groceraunt," which is the hottest thing in grocery retailing today.
Will this store be successful? Absolutely. Is Darlington going to love it? Absolutely. Could they have done better? Absolutely.
Final rating B+
Pros: Smaller Walmart Supercenter that feels less like an airplane hangar. You're able to get in and out quickly
Cons: Too many different items lacking assortment focus. Aisles not wide enough. Accessories in the electronics department much cheaper on Amazon.com, in some cases $10-$15 less.
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