Since opening its first store in California in Huntington Beach last July, and breaching the L.A. city limits in Panorama City last September (the Panorama City location has a Walmart Supercenter and Neighborhood Market), there are now 29 Neighborhood Markets in the state. While a spokesperson claims there are no specific new store openings targeted in the next year, she didn't rule it out. “We look for opportunities to improve access to our grocery selections, to be closer to our customers, to provide more convenient locations,” says Walmart's Rachel Wall. On deck and confirmed are new Neighborhood Markets in La Mirada and Hawaiian Gardens.

In Los Angeles County, Walmart is making use of existing vacant retail, Wall says. The downtown location at Grand Plaza in Chinatown “was vacant for more than 20 years.” The Torrance and Hawthorne markets were also vacant retail, she says, as was the new Hawaiian Gardens location that will anchor a revamped Hawaiian Gardens Town Center.

A Walmart Neighborhood Market is roughly 1/5th the size of a traditional Walmart Supercenter, Wall says. It has full produce, meat, dairy, and dry groceries sections and a pharmacy, along with some paper and cleaning products. Unlike the full Supercenters, there are no electronics, apparel or gardening equipment. “Think of a Neighborhood Market like the grocery and pharmacy departments from a Supercenter,” says Wall.

The new Neighborhood Market in downtown L.A. will employ 65 people. Some 5,300 people applied for positions at the store, Wall says, and most of them were referred to other local stores that may have openings. “We're doing our best to route them to stores that can accommodate them.”

David Thomas VP of West Coast retail at Jones Lang LaSalle, says one of the biggest considerations with any retailer expanding into L.A. is that “it's generally supply constrained. That's especially apparent in a power center subtype. L.A. has 40% below the square footage per capita for retail compared to other national cities.”

The 34,000-square-foot store Walmart Neighborhood Market slated for downtown will open with full produce, meat and dairy departments, and other grocery products. There will also be a full-service pharmacy and consultations will be offered seven days a week. The store is expected to service customers from downtown L.A., including Chinatown, and the Bunker Hill, Echo Park, and Lincoln Heights areas.

Walmart says it has received widespread community support from many local residents and organizations, including the Tenant Association of Grand Plaza, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, the Central City Association, the Latino Business Chamber, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, the Asian Business Association, the Chinatown Business Improvement District and others.

However, the chain is not so popular with unions, politicians concerned with the price-squeezing chain's affect on mom and pop retailers, and some organizations that fret about worker conditions. There was a legal challenge from the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance and Southeast Asian Community Alliance regarding the permits issued for Walmart to open in Grand Plaza. The suit claimed a lack of proper review. The organizations did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Last week, a judge denied the request to halt the store opening.

Last June, several thousand protestors marched through Chinatown to complain about the potential entrance of Walmart into the community, with some complaining the culture of the area would be changed. Walmart responded at the time that “the vast majority of customers see Walmart as part of the solution when it comes to things like good jobs, healthier foods and sustainability.”

The L.A. City Council unanimously approved an emergency ban on chain retail stores in the Chinatown area in March. However, Walmart obtained its building permits the night before the ruling.

As previously reported by GlobeSt.com, AmazonFresh's home delivery rollout in Los Angeles could further squeeze brick and mortar grocers. L.A. is the first test market for the new service outside of Amazon's Seattle home base.