Wal-Mart to Shrink Stores

The company plans to open up 30 to 40 smaller outlets in order to reverse a trend of falling sales.

Is this the death of the superscentre? Sales at Wal-Mart’s massive 185,000-square-foot locations have declined for each of the last seven quarters, and executives at the world’s largest retailer are planning to open up 30 to 40 smaller stores in the hope that more modest outlets will stop their downward slide. The company will begin building “express” format stores in Arkansas next week that will be about one-tenth the size of the average supercentre, and the first express outlet will open on Chicago’s south side this summer. The new stores include a mid-sized format of about 30,000 to 60,000 square feet dubbed the “Wal-Mart Market.” The company’s stock rose US 30 cents to $52.97 on the news early Thursday afternoon.