Putting aside their big-box ways, giant retailersWal-Mart Stores Inc.andTarget Corp.are going urban with a new look and a metro-oriented feel as they expand in Southern California, starting this weekend.
Locally grown produce is in plentiful supply. Grab-and-go sandwiches are ready. And many of the shopping carts are smaller. Grand opening signs are in place. Patio furniture is nowhere in sight.
The discount chains are hustling to expand as big-box retailers race to slide smaller stores into dense city neighborhoods, putting them head-to-head against dollar stores and local markets already there. Retailers such asBest Buy Co.are also eyeing urban centers as drivers of growth.
“Retailers once opened a lot of stores in rural areas because that is where people were going,” said Brian Sozzi, chief equities analyst at research firm NBG Productions in New York. “Now as people move back to the city for higher-paying jobs or lower commuting times, they are trying to get into cities.”
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On Friday, Huntington Beach residents will see a new grocery-centric Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market opening on Beach Boulevard not far from the ocean. On Sunday, shoppers in Westwood will be able to start browsing at the new CityTarget on Weyburn Avenue near UCLA.
Both retailers plan to open downtown Los Angeles stores in the months to come, CityTarget in October and Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market in Chinatown early next year.
To penetrate the urban core, Wal-Mart and Target are opting for smaller-than-normal footprints and a carefully selected assortment of goods.
At 31,000 square feet, the Neighborhood Market in Huntington Beach is about one-sixth the size of a Wal-Mart Supercenter and takes over a space formerly occupied by a Rite Aid pharmacy. The supermarket concept carries fresh produce, bread and general merchandise, part of a push by the world’s biggest retailer to open 20 such grocery stores in California in the next year.
A day before opening, fresh peaches were stacked in a pyramid and pineapples lined up in neat rows in the produce department. Steaks and chickens glistened under cellophane in the meat section. A pharmacy is tucked to one side, next to the magazines and beauty products.
via Wal-Mart, Target urban stores are about to open in California – Los Angeles Times.