Walmart announces major new store opening and remodel initiative

[ClownLoach]

I've been traveling around Mexico and the stores down here are far better than any Walmart I've seen in the US. Clean, well faced and stocked. 2ho ever is running Mexico should be placed in charge of US stores

Could probably say the same for a lot of businesses in Mexico. McDonalds, etc...

Two words: cheaper labor.

[bryceleinan]

I'd like to see a break out on Supercenters vs. Neighborhood Markets for these new stores.

Really hoping the strongly rumored new Supercenter in Dayton, NV is one of these in the initial group of 12 to begin development in 2024.

I also think announcing 150 stores over a fairly long time span is an attainable goal that they will meet. They aren't saying they are going to do 500 Neighborhood Markets in the next 5 years or some crazy promise they'll never meet.

I also think there are plenty of expansion opportunities in new suburbs and medium markets that previously had one Wal Mart but could now use two, for example.

Does anyone know the smallest population for a Neighborhood Market? I can think of a few communities in Nevada where one might make sense.

[storewanderer]

I'd like to see a break out on Supercenters vs. Neighborhood Markets for these new stores.

Really hoping the strongly rumored new Supercenter in Dayton, NV is one of these in the initial group of 12 to begin development in 2024.

I also think announcing 150 stores over a fairly long time span is an attainable goal that they will meet. They aren't saying they are going to do 500 Neighborhood Markets in the next 5 years or some crazy promise they'll never meet.

I also think there are plenty of expansion opportunities in new suburbs and medium markets that previously had one Wal Mart but could now use two, for example.

Does anyone know the smallest population for a Neighborhood Market? I can think of a few communities in Nevada where one might make sense.

I can't say I've seen them in overly small communities. Like towns under 20k people.

I also can't think of a time when I've seen a small/medium sized town with a Neighborhood Market and no Supercenter. It seems like step 1 is get a Supercenter, then step 2 is get a Neighborhood Market.

They threw them into places that wouldn't approve Supercenters in CA but that is a little different of a situation.

For instance Alamogordo, NM has an older Supercenter then out at an edge way away from the main highway it also has a Neighborhood Market. It also has a United-Albertsons which was built by LLC Southwest Division but opened under United and an extremely nice Lowe's Market (unbelievably nice for that chain).

[ClownLoach]

In thinking about the comments of "expansions," there are still several locations in SoCal that were built as regular stores but have an empty pad next to them for proper SuperCenter expansion. These sites were built with the appropriate architecture to allow for that wall to easily be knocked down and the building expanded, and that's exactly what they did in several cases (Cerritos, Foothill Ranch) before Walmart stopped their store growth before they started culling stores instead. There are sites like Murrieta, Laguna Niguel, etc. with the expansion pad sitting there largely ignored, and others where logistics were set up over there which could easily be reconfigured for the same expansion (Long Beach, San Clemente, etc.). So my guess is they're going to go after these "built for future expansion" buildings and get them converted to real SuperCenters.

[ClownLoach]

I'd like to see a break out on Supercenters vs. Neighborhood Markets for these new stores.

Really hoping the strongly rumored new Supercenter in Dayton, NV is one of these in the initial group of 12 to begin development in 2024.

I also think announcing 150 stores over a fairly long time span is an attainable goal that they will meet. They aren't saying they are going to do 500 Neighborhood Markets in the next 5 years or some crazy promise they'll never meet.

I also think there are plenty of expansion opportunities in new suburbs and medium markets that previously had one Wal Mart but could now use two, for example.

Does anyone know the smallest population for a Neighborhood Market? I can think of a few communities in Nevada where one might make sense.

I can't say I've seen them in overly small communities. Like towns under 20k people.

I also can't think of a time when I've seen a small/medium sized town with a Neighborhood Market and no Supercenter. It seems like step 1 is get a Supercenter, then step 2 is get a Neighborhood Market.

They threw them into places that wouldn't approve Supercenters in CA but that is a little different of a situation.

For instance Alamogordo, NM has an older Supercenter then out at an edge way away from the main highway it also has a Neighborhood Market. It also has a United-Albertsons which was built by LLC Southwest Division but opened under United and an extremely nice Lowe's Market (unbelievably nice for that chain).

My personal favorite of all time is still Santa Maria, where they tried to block Walmart from expanding to a SuperCenter so they went and bought the lease of a closing store right next door in bankruptcy Court (might have been CompUSA) and opened a neighborhood market there. Walmart next door to Walmart. All they would ever need to do now is just open a hallway between the two suites and it's a SuperCenter.

[Alpha8472]

The Walmart in Antioch, California was built as a non-supercenter as the San Francisco Bay Area is very anti-Walmart. The county didn't want any competition with the union supermarkets. It wasn't until 15 years later in 2015 when it finally expanded into a supercenter. It is still one of the few supercenters in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The store was built with a huge empty lot next to it. Walmart had planned for a possible expansion all along.

The Walmart in Pleasanton, California had the same design. There is a huge empty lot next to the building, but Pleasanton is very anti-supercenter. Walmart instead opened up two Neighborhood Markets nearby: one in Pleasanton several blocks away and one in nearby San Ramon, California.

This totally backfired as the main Walmart store lost so much customer traffic that it is suffering from lack of sales. It looks like it is on the verge of closure. Sales were dismal and the store manager was fired. It is empty of customers day and night. The decor has been barely changed over the years and still has remnants of ancient Walmart decor from many years ago.

Groceries drive sales at Walmart. So instead of shopping at the main Walmart, people shop at the Neighborhood Markets and ignore the main Walmart.

When the new Costco opens in Pleasanton, I predict that this Walmart will close. The two Neighborhood Market stores are never really very busy. They may close one or both as well as.

[storewanderer]

Does anyone know the smallest population for a Neighborhood Market? I can think of a few communities in Nevada where one might make sense.

I can't say I've seen them in overly small communities. Like towns under 20k people.

I also can't think of a time when I've seen a small/medium sized town with a Neighborhood Market and no Supercenter. It seems like step 1 is get a Supercenter, then step 2 is get a Neighborhood Market.

They threw them into places that wouldn't approve Supercenters in CA but that is a little different of a situation.

For instance Alamogordo, NM has an older Supercenter then out at an edge way away from the main highway it also has a Neighborhood Market. It also has a United-Albertsons which was built by LLC Southwest Division but opened under United and an extremely nice Lowe's Market (unbelievably nice for that chain).

My personal favorite of all time is still Santa Maria, where they tried to block Walmart from expanding to a SuperCenter so they went and bought the lease of a closing store right next door in bankruptcy Court (might have been CompUSA) and opened a neighborhood market there. Walmart next door to Walmart. All they would ever need to do now is just open a hallway between the two suites and it's a SuperCenter.

I think in Santa Maria there is a driveway between them, and the garden area.

Do both stores in Santa Maria have a pharmacy?

I wonder if they have the same store manager.

[storewanderer]

The Walmart in Antioch, California was built as a non-supercenter as the San Francisco Bay Area is very anti-Walmart. The county didn't want any competition with the union supermarkets. It wasn't until 15 years later in 2015 when it finally expanded into a supercenter. It is still one of the few supercenters in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The store was built with a huge empty lot next to it. Walmart had planned for a possible expansion all along.

The Walmart in Pleasanton, California had the same design. There is a huge empty lot next to the building, but Pleasanton is very anti-supercenter. Walmart instead opened up two Neighborhood Markets nearby: one in Pleasanton several blocks away and one in nearby San Ramon, California.

This totally backfired as the main Walmart store lost so much customer traffic that it is suffering from lack of sales. It looks like it is on the verge of closure. Sales were dismal and the store manager was fired. It is empty of customers day and night. The decor has been barely changed over the years and still has remnants of ancient Walmart decor from many years ago.

Groceries drive sales at Walmart. So instead of shopping at the main Walmart, people shop at the Neighborhood Markets and ignore the main Walmart.

When the new Costco opens in Pleasanton, I predict that this Walmart will close. The two Neighborhood Market stores are never really very busy. They may close one or both as well as.

I think at some point they'll get their expansion in Pleasanton if they want it. They may not want it. Then close that Pleasanton Neighborhood Market. There is something keeping that store open and it sure isn't sales volume. San Ramon is probably barely profitable (wasn't very busy as Ralphs but did enough business; that store was very well run as Ralphs with an excellent manager); an ethnic grocer moved in there between Ralphs and Wal Mart and they appeared to really struggle. I think they'll stick with San Ramon and it may be the best option for the area given the potential replacement tenants (things like Grocery Outlet).

[babs]

Will be interesting to see if Oregon and Washington get any new stores. They are underrepresented here but the NW hasn't been much of a focus for them.

[storewanderer]

Will be interesting to see if Oregon and Washington get any new stores. They are underrepresented here but the NW hasn't been much of a focus for them.

Are they underrepresented statewide or just underrepresented around Portland/Seattle? Given the closures they did around Portland I don't see them adding stores in that market. In the case of Seattle I don't think there is much need for them to add additional stores; Seattle has a lot of grocery options, also I think Seattle has a heavy loyalty to Costco, heavy loyalty to Amazon, the dominance of Fred Meyer and Target is such that I'm not sure what additional Wal Marts bring to the table in that market.

Wal Mart has opened a lot more new stores in the past 20 years in OR/WA than Fred Meyer... but those have been tough projects for them that take a lot of years to come to life.

I also think Wal Mart underperforms in smaller/medium markets where it competes against Fred Meyer.