Wal-Mart Breaks Out Of Its Box

Wal-Mart is following the lead of other big-box retailers, such as Target and K-Mart, adapting its form to fit into urban markets. For years, Wal-Mart focused its tremendous expansion efforts on under-served rural communities where land was inexpensive and a cookie cutter building format of a one-story building surrounding by a sea of parking fit easily into the landscape. Since expansion is critical to Wal-Mart's game plan, reaching new markets is crucial. Not an easy task for a company with already more than 4,900 stores worldwide. As Wal-Mart enters the urban arena, it faces some new challenges. "Space constraints, along with public opposition to cookie-cutter stores with drab exteriors and enormous asphalt lots, have forced Wal-Mart to design new store layouts and make other concessions to blend in with local tastes."