Walmart observations

Predicting the demise of Sears & Kmart since 2017!
BillyGr
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by BillyGr »

mjhale wrote: April 8th, 2022, 2:28 pm Similar situation in Rutland, VT. The store I've heard is that Kmart moved from their downtown location to the then new mall which opened in 1995. Walmart wanted into Rutland. The town said the only way you'll be approved is if you take over the old downtown Kmart space. I was in the Rutland Walmart a few times in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Every time I was there it was packed. They share the center with Price Chopper so I'd be curious what the grocery offerings are these days. Back then it was the typical chips, snacks, juice and soda stuff that Walmart sold. The mall in Rutland has since closed and is up for redevelopment. I'd be curious to know if Walmart has made any moves to try to open a supercenter at the redeveloped site. Walmart has so few stores in Vermont that they don't have anything else within a reasonable drive of Rutland.
That is the same setup with Bennington - sharing a plaza with Price Chopper. Having not been since they expanded the store I can't say for sure, but might think they do less grocery due to the PC as well as the still limited space they have (somewhere around 100,000 Sq. Ft. with the expansion which is still smaller than most Super type stores they normally build), but that may not be the case.
buckguy wrote: April 8th, 2022, 2:40 pm It's cheaper to shop in New Hampshire (no sales tax), so you see a lot less chain retail in much of Vermont than you might expect. The corridor from about Rutland to Burlington is far away from the border where discounters or big boxes could be viable, although they have to deal with zoning in those places.
That makes sense, and you also have to note that these towns on the NY side of the state (including Bennington in the south all the way up) often get business from many in NY as well. Not just the small differences in taxes, but that many of the NY towns that are close to the state line have little, if any, options of their own (for instance Hoosick, about 9 miles from Bennington, has only an old Grand Union that is now a Tops market and used to have a Rite Aid which I think became Walgreens in that split up, so Bennington with Price Chopper, Hannaford, Aldi, CVS and Walmart offers quite a few more options - and some of the towns may not even have that much on the NY side - the same occurs most of the way down NYS with MA and CT as well).
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by arizonaguy »

Walmart is closing another Ohio store, this time in Mayfield Heights.

https://www.cleveland.com/business/2022 ... -year.html

This is actually a surprising closing as it's a suburban location in a healthy retail corridor next to a major freeway interchange. Many of the other closings have been in low income areas or low traffic areas and this isn't any of those. In fact, this store is in a location similar to most typically successful suburban Walmarts.

They're also closing a store in Guilford, CT. Again, it's an area with great demographics so I can't imagine shrink is the issue here. The 97 employees leads me to think it may have been a low volume store.

https://patch.com/connecticut/guilford/ ... kXHv3XUP1c

These two closings look like a possible sign of trouble for Walmart.
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Re: Walmart observations

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YAY!!!!!!!! :D
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by wnetmacman »

arizonaguy wrote: April 20th, 2022, 7:58 am These two closings look like a possible sign of trouble for Walmart.
I ask you, how do two store closings in a company that has almost 10,000 stores worldwide look like a possible sign of trouble?

The location they announced looks busy, but cannot be expanded. Walmart is no longer waiting for good locations to spring up. That's why most of their US stores are now Supercenters - more profits.
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by Romr123 »

Cleveland's also seen increased competition with Meijer coming in from Michigan within the last couple years...shifting some volume away from a marginal moneymaking store makes it into a marginal moneyloser.
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by arizonaguy »

wnetmacman wrote: April 20th, 2022, 8:59 am
arizonaguy wrote: April 20th, 2022, 7:58 am These two closings look like a possible sign of trouble for Walmart.
I ask you, how do two store closings in a company that has almost 10,000 stores worldwide look like a possible sign of trouble?

The location they announced looks busy, but cannot be expanded. Walmart is no longer waiting for good locations to spring up. That's why most of their US stores are now Supercenters - more profits.
Mayfield Park looks like it -should- be the perfect location for a Walmart.

Walmart isn't replacing the store. It's simply leaving a trade area with what appear to be the perfect demographics for one of its stores. Walmart hasn't built a new store (that wasn't a replacement) in at least 3-4 years.
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by TW-Upstate NY »

arizonaguy wrote: April 20th, 2022, 7:58 am These two closings look like a possible sign of trouble for Walmart.
Wouldn't break my heart. I'll soon be approaching my first anniversary of not setting foot inside one.
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by buckguy »

Mayfield Heights (not Mayfield Park) is a store I've visited in the past year. It's a non-supercenter---someone elsewhere guessed 130K sf. It's on the site of a former Topps that was divided into a large (for its time) super market and a furniture store. The parking lot is awkward and small even for a relatively small Walmart. I had to make a transaction that only one person (as it turned out) could do---the employees were really friendly and helpful (unlike my other recent WM experiences). The store itself seemed neglected and poorly laid-out--trying to maximize the amount of merchandise at the expense of maneuverability. It had a decent number of customers but I would've expected to see more on a Saturday. The store is not far from an always busy Costco, a newer, nicely run Target, and almost adjacent to a center with off price retail like Marshall's (a high volume store). I went the store years ago, probably shortly after it opened---it was a fairly nice store, typical for its time (early 2000s), but not very busy then.

Speculation (from others who are local, not me): WM is phasing out the non-supercenters, Cleveland Clinic wants the property to expand its footprint (they own a hospital/office complex almost across the street), the store may have had problems with volume or shrink (I didn't see tons locked-up).

The Clinic's existing location is over capacity for outpatient services, so their desire for the property is probably part of the mix. WM has bigger stores within a 15 minute drive in two different directions. The new Meijer that's apparently under construction is about 7 miles away, so not super close. Unless they had gone into the redevelopment of Richmond Mall (the Meijer location) there wouldn't have been a suitable site anywhere remotely nearby and that location would have been a little too close to their South Euclid store. The two big strips near this WM are good examples of 1950s shopping centers that have evolved and repurposed largely within their original footprints and attracted national retailers. One take away is that when people have choices, it doesn't always work for Walmart.
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by arizonaguy »

buckguy wrote: April 21st, 2022, 10:48 am Mayfield Heights (not Mayfield Park) is a store I've visited in the past year. It's a non-supercenter---someone elsewhere guessed 130K sf. It's on the site of a former Topps that was divided into a large (for its time) super market and a furniture store. The parking lot is awkward and small even for a relatively small Walmart. I had to make a transaction that only one person (as it turned out) could do---the employees were really friendly and helpful (unlike my other recent WM experiences). The store itself seemed neglected and poorly laid-out--trying to maximize the amount of merchandise at the expense of maneuverability. It had a decent number of customers but I would've expected to see more on a Saturday. The store is not far from an always busy Costco, a newer, nicely run Target, and almost adjacent to a center with off price retail like Marshall's (a high volume store). I went the store years ago, probably shortly after it opened---it was a fairly nice store, typical for its time (early 2000s), but not very busy then.

Speculation (from others who are local, not me): WM is phasing out the non-supercenters, Cleveland Clinic wants the property to expand its footprint (they own a hospital/office complex almost across the street), the store may have had problems with volume or shrink (I didn't see tons locked-up).

The Clinic's existing location is over capacity for outpatient services, so their desire for the property is probably part of the mix. WM has bigger stores within a 15 minute drive in two different directions. The new Meijer that's apparently under construction is about 7 miles away, so not super close. Unless they had gone into the redevelopment of Richmond Mall (the Meijer location) there wouldn't have been a suitable site anywhere remotely nearby and that location would have been a little too close to their South Euclid store. The two big strips near this WM are good examples of 1950s shopping centers that have evolved and repurposed largely within their original footprints and attracted national retailers. One take away is that when people have choices, it doesn't always work for Walmart.
Thanks for the explanation. I don't know where I got Mayfield Park versus Mayfield Heights.

It seems interesting to me that Walmart has had such struggles in the SE part of the Cleveland Metro area. With this closure their only store along the I-271 corridor will be in Macedonia as they previously closed the Garfield Heights and Bedford stores (although to be fair I'm sure shrink and environmental issues played roles with those closures).

Still, I'd think Mayfield Heights would be an area where Walmart would've stuck it out but if Cleveland Clinic paid a nice sum for the land I can see Walmart leaving.
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by Romr123 »

yeah, looking at the area doubt that many from Lyndhurst/Pepper Pike are prioritizing going to a cramped Wal-Mart when Target and Aldi are diagonally across the intersection;
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