Also depends on the situation - for instance the one in Bennington (VT) that was in an old 5/10 store (since that was the only way they could open, given some of the more restrictive rules in VT).storewanderer wrote: ↑April 6th, 2022, 11:42 pm I find in general these "irregular" Wal Marts don't seem to work. I think it is for a variety of reasons. First, a large segment of the residents of these areas did not want Wal Mart in the first place. So Wal Mart noses around and finds an old undersized/irregular space and opens anyway. They open an inferior store because it is undersized and lacking SKUs. This upsets the segment of residents who may actually like Wal Mart because the store is inferior to the full size Wal Mart they can drive 10 miles to. Then the operating cost in the location is likely higher than usual for Wal Mart due to higher lease, etc. It just seems like a lose-lose situation. Especially in an area with a heavy Fred Meyer presence.
That one always did well, but there was no other one to drive to 10 miles away (North Adams, MA is the next closest and was only a standard store for quite some time before expanding to a super center), and the only other stores in town were a Kmart (which was also on the smaller side) and a strip JC Penney. So in that setting it makes sense that the smaller Walmart worked well (and it has since been expanded, but still somewhere around 100,000 Sq. Ft. which is still small for them - I'd guess less grocery also given that a supermarket is in the same plaza).