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Walmart plans more smaller stores

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BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart will continue to roll out medium- and small-format stores next year, while keeping Supercenters as its primary growth vehicle.

Walmart will continue to roll out medium- and small-format stores next year, while keeping Supercenters as its primary growth vehicle.

The chain has identified a large number of potential Neighborhood Market sites, and it plans to debut 80 to 100 small-to-medium formats in fiscal 2013 as well as 130 to 135 Supercenters.

Next year’s overall capital spending is projected to be $13 billion to $14 billion. Spending is being scaled back, however, at the flagship Walmart U.S. division, which has budgeted between $6 billion and $6.5 billion, down from $6.5 billion to $7 billion this year. Within that budget, however, Walmart U.S. plans a greater square footage increase than last year, primarily because more dollars are being allocated to new stores and fewer to ­remodelings.

The retailer continues to review and evaluate the Walmart Express format that premiered last summer. The stores measure about 15,000 square feet and are intended to enable Walmart to penetrate densely populated urban markets with sparse real estate as well as thinly populated rural areas. Five locations are being tested, and six more are slated to open by the end of the current fiscal year in January 2012.

"The rollout of Walmart Express is predicated on the review of our pilot program and the opportunity to build greater scale in a particular market," said Bill Simon, president and chief executive officer of Walmart U.S. "We will continue to pursue a balanced approach to market share growth in low-, medium- and higher-share markets. In addition, we continue to reduce the cost and scope of our remodel program to increase efficiency and to minimize customer ­disruption."


ECRM_06-01-22


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