Content about Big-box store

When planning commission officials in Northwest Arkansas gave Walmart the go ahead for a 40,000-sq.-ft. store in Bentonville, Ark., back in 1998, it was the retail industry’s biggest story that year.


ATLANTA — A majority of retailers say delivering a consistent customer experience is their top priority this holiday season, according to a new survey.

Supply chain and retail technology provider RedPrairie released results of its "Holiday Hiring Snapshot" survey of 250 big-box, specialty, grocery, convenience store and food service retailers based in the United States, finding that nearly 60% cited the importance of consistency, with 29% saying they would hire more seasonal workers this year than last year.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart plans a modest acceleration of its small-format stores in the coming years as investors were assured Wednesday morning that financial returns are now comparable with the company’s large supercenters.

CHICAGO — Consumers shop as many as seven retail channels in pursuit of the best value, SymphonyIRI Group reported Wednesday.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — It has been 50 years since Hendrik and Fred Meijer opened "Thrifty Acres" in Grand Rapids, Mich., marking the birth of the nation's pioneering supercenter and an innovative concept that grew into a retail phenomenon.

"They didn't realize it at the time, but our father and grandfather were making history when they opened 'Thrifty Acres' in June 1962," stated Hank Meijer, co-chairman. "The store offered groceries and general merchandise and enabled customers to enjoy 'one-stop shopping.'"

NEW YORK — Walmart on Wednesday opened its second supercenter in Chicago.

Walmart’s first small-format Express stores have only been open about six months, but strong initial consumer acceptance, coupled with increasingly flexible real estate, points to the near certainty of an eventual rollout.


The stores range between 10,000 and 15,000 sq. ft., offer about 13,000 products and were developed so Walmart could tap potential growth opportunities in rural and urban markets. Walmart expects to end its current fiscal year in late January 2012 with 11 Walmart Express stores following the opening of the first units in northwest Arkansas.


BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Two years of declining same-store sales at Walmart are poised to end next month when the retailer reports third-quarter results that reflect positive momentum from a wide range of initiatives put in place during the past 12 months, judging from comments made by senior executives during an all-day meeting with analysts on Wednesday.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Despite the absence of top line growth at Walmart’s U.S. stores division, second-quarter earnings grew 12.4% to $1.09 and came in a penny ahead of analysts’ estimates, which was enough for the company to narrow and increase the range of its full-year profit forecast.


BENTONVILLE, Ark. — The new small-format Walmart Express stores that opened earlier this month are an interesting concept with intriguing growth potential. But for the time being, and possibly for much longer, competitors need not concern themselves with the small stores.


At least that’s what Walmart wants the marketplace to believe following the opening of the first few of the 15,000-sq.-ft. stores earlier this month in northwest Arkansas.


WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — Walmart has rebranded the small-format food-and-drug combo store Neighborhood Market as Walmart Market.

(THE NEWS: Coming soon: More Walmart Market stores. For the full story, click here.)

Target is branching out.


Buoyed by surging profits and customer satisfaction scores, the Minneapolis-based giant is reaching into Canada, preparing a new small-store format for urban areas and going after a bigger share of the nation’s grocery dollar. Target also is spending billions on store renovations, aggressively leveraging a new loyalty card program and growing its commitment to health at its pharmacies and in-store clinics.