Content about Big-box store

Sam’s Club this week opened a new 136,000-sq.-ft. club adjacent to a Walmart supercenter in La Marque, Texas.

The club, built in 1991, was relocated from neighboring Texas City. The communities are located along I-45 southeast of Houston en route to the coastal community of Galveston. The new club, Sam’s first of the year, is one of an expected 15 to 20 new units this year that mark Sam’s most aggressive expansion in roughly a decade. Sam’s ended last year with 620 clubs and sales of $56.4 billion.

Walmart’s efforts to gain share in California’s grocery market continued this week with the opening of another Neighborhood Market in San Jose.

The 41,000-sq.-ft. store is Walmart’s second Neighborhood Market in San Jose and third in the San Francisco area and could be a sign of more to come. Since opening it first Neighborhood Market in California last summer, the format has quickly grown to approximately 20 locations. And there are likely more to come as Walmart looks to accelerated expansion of smaller format stores nationwide in the coming years.

ROSWELL, Ga. — Dick’s Sporting Goods is looking at increased competition in its core Northeastern markets as PGA Tour Superstore prepares for the grand opening of its first retail location in Paramus, N.J.

The 57,000-sq.-ft. store will open its doors Wed., Nov. 21, and offer a wide selection of golf merchandise and apparel, including more than 15,000 golf clubs and 10,000 pairs of shoes for every level of golf and tennis enthusiast.

The Home Depot will close its remaining seven big box stores in China, the company announced late yesterday, in order to shift its focus to specialty stores and online offerings in that market.

TORONTO — A study of big-box retail consumers, released Thursday, found that only two in five consumers believe that retailers value their input, and just 29% believe it is acted upon.

According to the Consumer Insights Panel survey conducted by customer experience management solution provider Empathica Inc., 85% of the 6,500 consumers surveyed have provided some form of feedback to big-box retailers, yet only 46% believe that brands actually use this feedback to make constructive changes to the customer experience.

While Walmart maintains its small format stores are still in pilot mode, Dollar General continues to open its 7,000-sq.-ft. units at a dizzying pace. DG recently surpassed 10,000 units and has plans for 625 new stores this year with a long term goal of doubling in size. Expanded offerings of food and consumables and sharp prices on national brands present a serious threat to customer traffic at supercenter.

Target is bringing the experience of small, independent shops to the masses with its next design partnership, “The Shops at Target.”

Launching May 16 for a six-week run in all Target stores and online, “The Shops at Target” will provide customers with the feel of visiting some of the world’s most unique boutiques without having to travel beyond their nearest Target store. 

NEW YORK — Gov. Jerry Brown of California vetoed a bill that would have required comprehensive economic-impact reports before big-box superstores could begin construction.

The bill, the Small and Neighborhood Business Protection Act, would have required supercenters to address more than a dozen possible economic side-effects, including job losses if competitors faltered.

MINNEAPOLIS — Target's entry into Canada is nearing completion, as the company Friday finalized its real estate transaction with Zellers Inc. with the selection of 84 additional Zellers leases, bringing the total number of leases selected, including an initial group of 105 leases selected in May, to 189. From this second group, Target has acquired the leasehold interests for 29 locations, the vast majority of which will open as Target stores beginning in 2013. The remaining leases have been or will be sold to other Canadian retailers or back to landlords.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Despite the absence of top line growth at Walmart’s U.S. stores division, second quarter earnings grew 12.4% to $1.09 and came in a penny ahead of analysts’ estimates, which was enough for the company to narrow and increase the range of its full year profit forecast.

CHICAGO — About a week after announcing it would join First Lady Obama and other retailers in bringing more choices to so-called "food deserts", Walmart announced its official presence in Chicago today with the news that it has begun work on a new supercenter in Chatham. According to the company, the store will give more options to residents of Chicago's South Side neighborhood while at the same time creating approximately 400 jobs.