Bright lights and hip mannequins: Walmart rolls out sleek new store designs

As walmartAs the low-priced groceries attract customers, the retailer is rolling out a new strategy to entice them to other aisles: stores with brighter lights, fashionable mannequins, and colorful displays of makeup, pet supplies, and more.

The big-box retailer, known for competing with value, has converted five of its SuperCenters into flagship stores with the updated look. They are located in Teterboro and North Bergen in New Jersey; Yaphank, New York; Quakertown, Pennsylvania.; and Hodgkins, Illinois. All of the flagships have debuted in the past three months – with North Bergen and Teterboro opening in mid-January.

And another one is coming soon: A remodel of the Secaucus, New Jersey, store is scheduled for next month.

Walmart’s hipper look is part of a broader effort to sell more discretionary items — such as jeans, lipstick, and strollers — that tend to have higher profit margins than groceries. Last summer, it tested the slimmer model at one of its large stores in Springdale, Arkansas, a short distance from its headquarters.

Alvis Washington, Walmart’s vice president of marketing, store design, innovation and experience, said it was time to take the look to other markets after receiving positive feedback in Arkansas. In company surveys, he said nearly every shopper said the store’s displays and mannequins encouraged them to browse longer.

“They appreciate the fact that we’re still true to who we are as Walmart,” he said. “Great prices. But now we also have these new brands that we showcase in inspiring ways.”

The company is remodeling its stores – removing some of the rival’s store features Target — at a time when more high-income households are shopping at the retail giant. Over the past two quarters, according to Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey, about 75% of its food market share gains have come from households earning more than $100,000 a year.

Those shoppers could become new audiences for Walmart’s exclusive brands, such as a style and value-focused activewear brand, Love & Sports, co-developed with fashion designer Michelle Smith and SoulCycle instructor Stacey Griffith, and a kitchen and interior line. called Beautiful, which was developed with Drew Barrymore. It also carries an assortment of clothing from national brands such as Levi Strauss, Wrangler and Reebok.

“They were kind of a one-trick pony,” said Scott Mushkin, a retail analyst and CEO of R5 Capital. “They’ve always been about price and what they’re doing now is, yes, they’re still leading on price. But they’re starting to accelerate the momentum in stores that are important to other people along with value.”

He said it’s notable that Walmart chose to remodel some stores near New York City, a competitive market where it’s struggled with previous attempts to gain traction.

Mushkin was a critic of Walmart for its shoddy stores, but has changed his tone. He said store leaders and employees have turned things around. And he said that along with sharper-looking shelves and neater displays, Walmart has shown its savvy by collaborating more with well-known brands and developing more stylish house brands.

Walmart declined to say how many of its roughly 4,700 U.S. stores will get the new look. Through a spokesperson, the company said it will share its plans for renovations and capital expenditures for the fiscal year when it reports results in late February. The company would not say how much it spent on the changes, nor how the cost compares to other remodels.

However, Washington already said some elements of the revamped store — such as displays that show off Walmart’s clothing brands — have been added to 30 stores.

The retailer has remodeled nearly 500 stores in the US since the third quarter ended October 31. Last financial year about 600 and last financial year about 500.

Still, Walmart has to prove its remodeled stores can convince shoppers to spend even as they feel inflation and think twice about buying more than they need. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in an interview with TBEN this summer that even wealthier shoppers are more price-conscious because of high inflation.

The company revised its outlook for the fiscal year, which ends at the end of January, saying it expects same-store sales to be higher in the U.S. but profit margins will be lower as shoppers consume more food and fewer discretionary items. buys.

Washington declined to share data on Walmart’s store traffic and sales at its Springdale store and other flagship stores that have opened in recent months.

Still, the new store design appears to be catching on with shoppers, according to data from Placer.ai, an analytics company that uses anonymized data from mobile devices to estimate total visits to locations.

Visits to the Walmart store in Springdale, Ark. — the original prototype — were much higher than what an average Walmart or Target location receives. In the fourth quarter, the store received 31.2% more visits than the average Walmart during that period. It received 66.6% more visits than the average target at the time.

Some of that extra foot traffic may come from Walmart’s hometown advantage and having many employees who live nearby and shop at the store.

But the new layout is also gaining some converts outside of Arkansas.

Victor Millan, of Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, makes weekly grocery trips to the Walmart in Teterboro for groceries and other items. Since the store’s new look debuted about two weeks ago, the 45-year-old father of four said he’s spent more time at the new Walmart — about twice as long per visit, from about half an hour to closer to a o’clock.

While shopping for a pair of Wrangler jeans on Thursday, Millan said he feels the store now offers higher quality clothing, and lots of it.

“I’m not a fan of buying clothes,” he said, “but they have so many things.”