US-based retail giants, Walmart and Target, will operate on a new business model with the launch of smaller stores in urban areas, like Seattle, San Diego, Ballitmore, Miami, Portland and San Francisco. Walmart is reportedly planning an aggressive push into markets it hasn’t been able to capture with superstores that span across 1,95,000 square feet area. The more city-friendly neighbourhood market format stores will operate on a 42,000 or lesser square feet area. On the other hand, Target has revealed its plans for an urban prototype consisting of 60,000 to 1,00,000 square feet area. “We have realised that one size doesn’t fit all. Therefore, the chain is making the store fit the site. These strategies help expansion in markets that had been unreachable, especially as the suburban landscape fills up,” says John Griffith, Executive Vice President, Property Management, Target. “It will be interesting to see how well the retailers can figure out what works out. A store in office area is different than the one in the neighbourhood. The product mix will also have to be taken care of,” says Candace Corlett, President, WSL Strategic Retail (a US-based marketing consulting firm).
Posted on: 20.10.2010
Source: www.wwd.com
