Wal Mart Neighborhood Market Closing Granite Bay. CA

[storewanderer]

This isn't surprising. This is a former late 80's Albertsons divested to Ralphs. Ralphs did a full remodel and did pretty well until Safeway opened a very nice store across the street which killed the Ralphs and it closed a bit before the entire NorCal exit.

Then Grocery Outlet filled part of the space but wasn't there long.

Then Wal Mart took the space. I was surprised they stayed open this long. They had traffic but not enough and transactions seemed small.

It'll be interesting to see what takes this space this time.

This area has excellent demographics but this shopping center except for after the Ralphs remodel has always been rather downscale for the area.

[pseudo3d]

Walmart Neighborhood Market seems to do better in some markets than others. I remember they gained a big foothold in Dallas by the 2000s (some former Albertsons later), and I remember being intrigued with the green color scheme they had to counter the normal Wal-Mart blue.

My area doesn't have any. Their one store opened in 2013 in a long-vacant Albertsons in a struggling shopping center (Albertsons operated from 2002 to 2006, no doubt losing money hand over fist), but then closed less than two years later in those big 2015 closures. It was probably part due to a new full Supercenter that opened about a mile and a half away, but I also think the location sucked. The center had been consistently struggling since Sears left in 1982 (back when that meant something).

Frankly I'm surprised Walmart Neighborhood Market has kicked around this long. Walmart doesn't let dead concepts stay around for very long, and it's clear that the division has underperformed.

[ClownLoach]

Frankly I'm surprised Walmart Neighborhood Market has kicked around this long. Walmart doesn't let dead concepts stay around for very long, and it's clear that the division has underperformed.

It's hit or miss. No demographics seem to explain this either.

Rancho Santa Margarita does well, very rich area with a flagship tier Pavilions around the corner, top 25 in company Target across the street, and Ralphs Fresh Fare couple blocks over.

Huntington Beach does well, two blocks from the ocean in a converted Rite Aid. I think they can't get the beer and firewood delivered fast enough.

Anaheim near Disneyland in a horrible neighborhood does well enough to have warranted a deluxe full remodel. It's in an old Pep Boys across the street from a very old El Super that looks like a possible former Alpha Beta or The Boys Market?

Yet another Anaheim Neighborhood Market in another old Pep Boys didn't make it about 3 miles over, a Food4Less across the street and otherwise no full service market for several miles. Closed a few years ago, and the very nice Albertsons a mile west that had deluxe blue and green awnings closed a decade ago presumably after this Walmart market put it out of business.

Anaheim again near Knott's Berry Farm in only half of a closed Food4Less (former Ralphs "The Giant") on a truly horrific street that you would not want your children to see at night (let's just say that there are, ahem, women on the curb offering their services at the old motels that line the Boulevard) also got this deluxe remodel. I can't imagine that this store wouldn't be insanely high shrink.

San Diego has at least one neighborhood market that does over $1 million a week though and actually outperforms the nearby old Division 1 store. They would never close that.

So yeah, they're really hit or miss. But where they're a hit they are some of the most productive stores Walmart operates on a sales per square foot measure and that is why they will never close the program entirely.

[storewanderer]

Frankly I'm surprised Walmart Neighborhood Market has kicked around this long. Walmart doesn't let dead concepts stay around for very long, and it's clear that the division has underperformed.

It's hit or miss. No demographics seem to explain this either.

Rancho Santa Margarita does well, very rich area with a flagship tier Pavilions around the corner, top 25 in company Target across the street, and Ralphs Fresh Fare couple blocks over.

Huntington Beach does well, two blocks from the ocean in a converted Rite Aid. I think they can't get the beer and firewood delivered fast enough.

Anaheim near Disneyland in a horrible neighborhood does well enough to have warranted a deluxe full remodel. It's in an old Pep Boys across the street from a very old El Super that looks like a possible former Alpha Beta or The Boys Market?

Yet another Anaheim Neighborhood Market in another old Pep Boys didn't make it about 3 miles over, a Food4Less across the street and otherwise no full service market for several miles. Closed a few years ago, and the very nice Albertsons a mile west that had deluxe blue and green awnings closed a decade ago presumably after this Walmart market put it out of business.

Anaheim again near Knott's Berry Farm in only half of a closed Food4Less (former Ralphs "The Giant") on a truly horrific street that you would not want your children to see at night (let's just say that there are, ahem, women on the curb offering their services at the old motels that line the Boulevard) also got this deluxe remodel. I can't imagine that this store wouldn't be insanely high shrink.

San Diego has at least one neighborhood market that does over $1 million a week though and actually outperforms the nearby old Division 1 store. They would never close that.

So yeah, they're really hit or miss. But where they're a hit they are some of the most productive stores Walmart operates on a sales per square foot measure and that is why they will never close the program entirely.

The busiest of these Neighborhood Market units I've seen have been in CA.

I think they have tight expense controls that can make these stores work.

I like the mix they have in these stores. It is a wide mix of items and strong on the categories like household, pet, drug, etc. I've seen them go back and forth on trying to squeeze in random general merchandise, but they seem to be trying less of that lately. For fresh items (bakery/deli etc.) they are worse than a typical Supercenter as they are even more limited on what they offer in fresh perimeter departments.

[ClownLoach]

Frankly I'm surprised Walmart Neighborhood Market has kicked around this long. Walmart doesn't let dead concepts stay around for very long, and it's clear that the division has underperformed.

It's hit or miss. No demographics seem to explain this either.

Rancho Santa Margarita does well, very rich area with a flagship tier Pavilions around the corner, top 25 in company Target across the street, and Ralphs Fresh Fare couple blocks over.

Huntington Beach does well, two blocks from the ocean in a converted Rite Aid. I think they can't get the beer and firewood delivered fast enough.

Anaheim near Disneyland in a horrible neighborhood does well enough to have warranted a deluxe full remodel. It's in an old Pep Boys across the street from a very old El Super that looks like a possible former Alpha Beta or The Boys Market?

Yet another Anaheim Neighborhood Market in another old Pep Boys didn't make it about 3 miles over, a Food4Less across the street and otherwise no full service market for several miles. Closed a few years ago, and the very nice Albertsons a mile west that had deluxe blue and green awnings closed a decade ago presumably after this Walmart market put it out of business.

Anaheim again near Knott's Berry Farm in only half of a closed Food4Less (former Ralphs "The Giant") on a truly horrific street that you would not want your children to see at night (let's just say that there are, ahem, women on the curb offering their services at the old motels that line the Boulevard) also got this deluxe remodel. I can't imagine that this store wouldn't be insanely high shrink.

San Diego has at least one neighborhood market that does over $1 million a week though and actually outperforms the nearby old Division 1 store. They would never close that.

So yeah, they're really hit or miss. But where they're a hit they are some of the most productive stores Walmart operates on a sales per square foot measure and that is why they will never close the program entirely.

The busiest of these Neighborhood Market units I've seen have been in CA.

I think they have tight expense controls that can make these stores work.

I like the mix they have in these stores. It is a wide mix of items and strong on the categories like household, pet, drug, etc. I've seen them go back and forth on trying to squeeze in random general merchandise, but they seem to be trying less of that lately. For fresh items (bakery/deli etc.) they are worse than a typical Supercenter as they are even more limited on what they offer in fresh perimeter departments.

Seems to me that in most of the remodeled units they've eliminated nearly all of the general merchandise except local edits, which is to give them space to have the typical perimeter of the grocery end of a Supercenter. Basically, the entire store is just that end of a Supercenter by itself. No more attempts to sell video games, TVs etc. as I recall from the original stores. It's just a grocery store and that is why it works. Target could learn a lot from this concept as they struggle with many of the small format boxes being unprofitable.