Thread: Wal-Mart Plans Hundreds of Express Stores

MARCH 10, 2011, 3:54 P.M. ET.

Wal-Mart Plans Hundreds of Express Stores

By MIGUEL BUSTILLO

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. now plans to add hundreds of small stores to its chain, after previously forecasting a conservative launch of just 30 to 40 such outlets, the company's U.S. president said Thursday.

The company's new small stores, to be called Walmart Express, will have a 15,000-square-foot format, said the executive, Bill Simon. That's a fraction of the size of the company's Supercenters, which average 185,000 square feet.

The mini Wal-Marts will begin to open in the second quarter of this year in urban and rural locations, including some near the company's headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. The company plans to test different mixes of products in the initial stores as it fine tunes the new convenience-style formula.

"We are going to be adding hundreds of these in the coming years, and maybe more, depending on how these work out," Mr. Simon told a Bank of America investor conference.

Wal-Mart, which is trying to jump-start revenue growth after seven straight quarters of declining sales at U.S. stores open at least a year, wouldn't elaborate on when and where the smaller locations would be built. Mr. Simon jokingly said a "secret handshake" was required to learn the details.

Mr. Simon said in response to questions from investors that Wal-Mart was now considering acquiring existing retailers or other businesses with small real-estate locations to speed the roll out of smaller stores.

Some analysts believe Wal-Mart would face regulatory obstacles trying to acquire retailers in the U.S. due to its already dominant market share. Mr. Simon said he believed the company could acquire urban locations because of its lack of penetration in cities such as New York, where Wal-Mart now has no stores.

Wal-Mart is also expanding a program called "Pick Up Today," which allows customers to purchase items online and pick them up in stores. The program, similar to ones by rivals Best Buy Co. and Sears Holdings Corp., is available now in 750 stores but will be expanded to nearly 3,600 locations by June.

Write to Miguel Bustillo at miguel.bustillo@wsj.com

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 39252.html

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