Walmart Express Makes Its Debut

Walmart has unveiled its new smaller-format store concept, dubbed Walmart Express, opening its first store in Gentry, Ark., last week with two more opening this week in Prairie Grove and Gravette, Ark.

The stores are targeting dollar stores, convenience stores and, in some cases, pharmacies. They emphasize food, pharmacy and limited general merchandise.

The new store – less than a tenth the size of a Walmart superstore – is a no frills affair with bare concrete floors and an open rafter ceiling and the merchandise mix is heavily oriented toward food along with an emphasis on Walmart’s Site-to-Store service where it ships merchandise ordered online to stores for free.

Bill Simon, president and CEO, Walmart, U.S., said the company has several formats it will be testing -- some with pharmacies, some without. 

“The aim here, folks, is to get the right model so that we can rapidly roll these things out. At our peak we built about 350 supercenters in a year, so when we get this thing right, these are going to come real fast and we’re real excited about this format,” Simon said at a recent investors' conference.

The first stores are a stone's throw from Walmart's corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. But not all of the Express stores will be out in the boondocks. The company has snagged a site in the West Englewood area of Chicago, according to Drug Store News, a trade journal.

West Englewood is an underserved community with very few retail outlets.

Dollar stores have been enjoying strong revenue growth while Walmart stores have posted declines for eight straight quarters. High fuel prices are seen as partly to blame: consumers not only have less to spend but are also more likely to look for a store closer to their home.