Sometimes you don’t always have the time to run through a Walmart Supercenter. While having all of those options can be beneficial for a shopper looking for a one-and-done shopping experience, having to make your way through those massive aisles to find the one or two things you need doesn’t make Walmart the most time-efficient store. Even Walmart understands this, which is why the store has 150 Neighborhood Markets across the United States, offering a smaller number of items — like groceries and pharmacy items — for shoppers who need to quickly grab and go. Nevertheless, these stores are still significantly small, which is why Walmart has made the decision to make them a smidgen bigger.
Walmart will expand its Neighborhood Markets by 17,000 square feet, providing customers with an even larger assortment of items they will need. This expansion will create a total selling space of 57,000 square feet and gives the retailer the opportunity to add even more emphasis on its bakery offerings, as well as fresh produce, meat, dairy and hot case options. This new concept is already in the works at two Neighborhood Market locations in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, as well as the Vine City neighborhood in Atlanta. Walmart plans on making these changes to the rest of its Neighborhood Markets within the next five years.
Doesn’t this defeat the purpose of having a smaller store, though? While this change does give these stores a larger footprint, they are still significantly smaller than the average 182,000 square feet of a typical Walmart Supercenter.
According to Walmart’s press release, the vision behind the news is to not only expand its offerings in the fresh departments but to also give shoppers more space to shop with wider aisles. This expansion also allows for dedicated space for pickup and delivery orders, with room for refrigerated goods so the associates can work at a faster pace. Plus, with more options to choose from, this makes the Neighborhood Markets even more desirable for shoppers to go to when running a quick errand for a grocery item.