When it comes to shopping at a Walmart Express or a Walmart Neighborhood Market, consumers are pretty much motivated by the same things — quick shops and fill-in visits. So, even though the convenience store-sized Express locations are much smaller than Neighborhood Markets, Walmart doesn't think consumers will be thrown by its decision to mothball the Express banner.
"All 21 of the Express formats and all future small formats will bear the name Neighborhood Market. It's a widely known and accepted brand that consumers can easily identify with," John Forrest Ales, a spokesperson for Walmart, told The City Wire.
Walmart has made clear that it sees great opportunities to capture customers with smaller stores strategically positioned between its supercenters or in areas where there is not enough space to open larger stores. In the last quarter, Neighborhood Market stores posted a 5.6 percent comp increase even as Walmart's total same-store numbers in the U.S. were flat.
