Walmart Continues Growth Trend Amidst Shutdown of Walmart Express Concept

March 8th, 2016 by Fiedler Group

In an effort to rightsize its retail network, global retailer, Walmart, said it will close over 100 of its smaller Walmart Express stores in the United States.

The initiative is part of a larger shut down of 269 stores worldwide.

Of the stores closing in the United States, the company noted that more than 95 percent of them are already within 10 miles (on average) of another Walmart location.

According to president and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Doug McMillon, the brand feels they “can better serve [its] customers by focusing on Supercenters and Neighborhood Markets” (its small supermarket chain), which in 2014 the company announced plans to merge Walmart Express locations into.

The Walmart Express stores were introduced as a pilot in 2011, and are generally 15,000 square feet locations (nearly half the size of a Neighborhood Market), offering groceries, pharmacies, and retail fuel.

Still, Walmart maintains its growth plan, outlining a strategy to open up to 60 Supercenters and up to 95 Neighborhood Market locations in its fiscal 2017.

Additionally, the company plans to expand its Sam’s Club business unit with an additional 7-10 new warehouse locations.

The Walmart Express test seemed to have landed in an awkward middle ground between the larger Neighborhood Market and the smaller Walmart To Go convenience store pilot — which is a traditional convenience store model, with retail gasoline islands.

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