While many of us prefer to do our shopping online for essentials like school supplies and groceries, there's still a large cohort of the United States that goes in person for their errands.
The American shopping experience may not be as robust and pushy as it was during the height of the mall heyday in the 1980s, when people would quite literally venture out just to get some exercise. Plazas and strip malls in the country, however, are still alive and well.
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And for those thriving centers of business, shopping looks a lot more like a trip to an adult amusement park than it does a daily or weekly task to be checked off.
Take, for example, a trip to a Cabela's or Costco. Both store concepts feature massive footprints, complete with entertainment and refreshments for all ages. Cabela's often features things like fish tanks, interactive games and equipment, and demos on new gear. Costco boasts a full scale food court and sells everything from toilet paper to furniture – and in some stores, even diamonds and award winning liquor.
You could spend a whole day just getting lost in these stores, and that's exactly what many customers intend to do when they venture out for a trip.
Walmart scaling up store experience
The impetus, therefore, is on other big box incumbents like Walmart (WMT) to boost and improve its in store experience.
For decades, Walmart has been viewed as a simple but accessible place to get discount goods at a reliable, albeit sometimes rather spartan, environment.
But management is determined to change this. It is in the midst of a $9 billion store overhaul renovation project that will see over 1,400 stores renovated to make for a more pleasant and interactive shopping experience.
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Here are some of those changes you might see at your local Walmart store:
- Updated interiors and exteriors
- New paint, signs, shopping carriages
- More spacious, navigable aisles
- New checkout design
- Bigger, more centrally-located pharmacies
- Refreshed vision centers with more designer eyewear
- Interactive corner displays featuring home designs, bedding, and furniture
- Interactive digital displays to learn more about products
- More space for Pickup & Delivery options
- Seasonal items in the dollar shop
- Grab & Go section with fresh meals and drinks
Walmart getting 92 new fast food locations
Like Costco, Walmart also offers a variety of food options in stores for customers who like to dine and shop.
It has long offered fast food options in-store from restaurants like McDonald’s, Subway, Charleys Philly Steaks, Domino’s, Taco Bell, and Wendy’s. But it's begun to offer more localized and specialized food offerings for different palettes. Beginning in 2024, Walmart started putting Uncle Sharkii Poke Bowl shops in several West Coast locations.
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And now, 92 Walmart stores will get brand new Mr. Gatti's Pizza shops, specifically clustered around southern Walmart locations.
The new pizza shops will be mostly in the following states:
- Texas
- Louisiana
- Oklahoma
- Kentucky
Walmarts are expected to begin installation of the shops shortly and plan to have Mr. Gatti's corporate-owned pizza shops open and operational by the fourth quarter of 2024. The partnership affords Mr. Gatti's quite the expansion option; it has now doubled its presence across the U.S. to over 230 locations nationally.
“We’ve been vocal for years now about our ambitious growth goals, and this partnership with Walmart enables us to accelerate our expansion into new areas while continuing to strengthen our presence in familiar communities,” Mr. Gatti's CEO Jim Phillips said of the new deal.
Each location will be a mini version of the traditional pizza shop model, ranging in size from 800 to 1,500 square feet. Most Mr. Gatti's standalone shops are approximately 12,000 to 16,000 square feet and feature interactive games and arcades.
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