Walmart is expanding one of its lesser-known concepts, its Neighborhood Market grocery stores, with plans for a big opening in Los Angeles. And the store sounds like a safe bet, since there aren't any other supermarkets in a 30-block radius.
The announcement brought up one question in our mind, though. What is the deal with the Neighborhood Market.
We get that it's essentially a grocery store, but Walmart, which usually isn't shy about major store rollouts or international acquisitions, has taken its time with the Neighborhood Market concept.
Walmart opened its first Neighborhood Market in 1998. But to date there are only 168 Neighborhood Markets, which average 42,000 square feet.
You'd think the company would have gotten the concept down in nearly 15 years and rolled it out across the country more aggressively. Otherwise, the largest retailer in the world could have easily canned it.
As it stands now, though, the Neighborhood Markets seem to be on this prolonged, tempered expansion. This surprises us because discount groceries seem like a safe bet in this environment, the testing process is surely matured and Walmart can surely afford to open more of these stores.
What do you think is holding back Walmart from a more expansive roll out? Competition from traditional grocers?
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