Walmart Express Stores Roll Out Next Week

Walmart WMT has seen eight straight quarters of negative same-store sales. But its smaller Walmart Neighborhood Market stores saw a sales increase of 4% in the first quarter of 2011. The retail giant now says it will begin testing an even smaller-store format called Walmart Express. The average Walmart superstore is about 184,000 square feet and offers some 100,000 items. Walmart Neighborhood Market stores average 40,000 square feet, but Walmart Express stores will average just 15,000 square feet and carry up to 13,000 items. Most of these new smaller stores will include a pharmacy and many will have gas stations. "Small stores are going to be a very good growth opportunity for us," said Walmart Stores U.S. CEO Bill Simon. "They allow us to get access to places we aren't in. We have a pretty aggressive plan to build those." One of the first Walmart Express locations will open in Gentry, Arkansas, on June 8. The company plans to open as many as 20 Walmart Express stores this year, both in rural locations in Arkansas and North Carolina as well as in urban markets in Chicago. Walmart shares are trading at about the same price as at the beginning of the year. The stock has underperformed the broader markets year to date.