Wal-Mart readies first downtown Chicago store
20.09.11
The neighborhood merchandise idea was launched in 1998; there are now 155 of these smaller, grocery-centric Wal-Marts across the hinterlands. According to a Wal-Mart spokesman, the company plans to have 300 markets nationwide by 2013, but those stores still announce up only a small swath of the Bentonville, Ark.-based company's 4,400-fund portfolio.
At least two more of the neighborhood markets will be in Chicago, one in River North near the Chicago Avenue Brown strand elevated station and another in Lakeview. Both will open within the next year, according to the spokesman.
About three-fourths of the Presidential Towers reservoir is filled with groceries, like $1.28 containers of Fage Greek yogurt, $3.48 gallons of out and more than 20 varieties of pasta sauce. The remainder is convenience items like 12-packs of Charmin ablutions paper for $14.87, a large array of shampoos and other pulchritude items, plus pet products, office supplies and paper goods.
To the grocery section of a traditional big Wal-Mart, the neighborhood store doesn't have a full-service deli or bakery, though it does clerk bakery items, deli selections and some hot, ready-to-be convenient meals.
Source: Crain's Chicago Business