Dive Brief:
- Adding to Walmart’s “Store of the Future” concept, the mass retailer opened its newest Supercenter located in the Oakleaf community of Jacksonville, Florida, per a Wednesday press release. A store opening event included giveaways, live musical entertainment and a meet-and-greet with a former Jacksonville Jaguar football player.
- The new location features a refreshed store layout with expanded home and apparel offerings, as well as a fresh sushi bar and a selection of Oakleaf merchandise.
- The retailer’s latest large-format opening follows the opening of another Supercenter and a Neighborhood Market store in Florida last month.
Dive Insight:
Walmart’s new Florida Supercenter is the latest opening after a multiyear pause on its largest store format.
The new store represents another milestone in Walmart’s plan to build or convert more than 150 stores by 2029.
Last May, Walmart opened its first new Supercenter in about four years. The Cypress, Texas, store opening was part of a larger multimillion-dollar modernization plan and was the first U.S. location under the “Store of the Future” model.
“This store was built with the customer in mind,” John Furner, Walmart Inc.’s new CEO who previously served as the CEO of its U.S. business, said in a statement last year. “It’s part of a larger transformation happening across our stores as we reimagine what shopping looks like for the future.”
The mass retailer’s new Supercenter also opens a few weeks after it was revealed Amazon is working to build its first big-format store outside of Chicago.
The e-commerce giant’s 225,000-square-foot retail store concept will have a focus on fresh groceries, as well as other household essential merchandise. Walmart’s Supercenters, in comparison, average 179,000 square feet.
Amazon's proposed store is undergoing review from local entities and would lay within a larger 35-acre retail-focused parcel.
Walmart’s e-commerce business has become much more competitive over the years, though it still focuses on stores.
“I've been a part of developing our strategy on capital for automation, the transformation from having a store business and an e-commerce business to becoming omni,” Furner said on an earnings call with analysts in November. “We have a lot of momentum, and I think that strategy is solid.”
