New concept Wal-Mart Options

[jwttu]

I found this article about a new type of wal-mart they are testing in plano. It is going to have sushi and a coffee bar among other stuff.

any of you in dfw area been to this store?

By MARIA HALKIAS and JAKE BATSELL / The Dallas Morning News

PLANO – From now on, Plano shoppers will have a lot to say about what Wal-Mart sells in its stores.

The world's largest retailer today opens a first-of-its-kind "laboratory" store in this city, with the purpose of studying how to entice shoppers to consider Wal-Mart for more than everyday essentials.

A more upscale Wal-Mart with a specialty-store attitude, it carries premium products and services not found at a typical Supercenter.

John Menzer, vice chairman of Wal-Mart Stores USA, said the chain has put its best ideas inside this Supercenter, which is at the southeast corner of West Park Boulevard and Dallas Parkway.

"Now we'll see what the customer thinks," he said Tuesday during a store tour.

The 203,091-square-foot store has the chain's only sushi shop, more than 500 organic products and a wine department with more than 1,000 varieties ranging up to $500 a bottle.

It features a Wi-Fi-ready Kicks Coffee Café at the front of the store and a kiosk in the meat department that prints recipes and shopping lists.

Even the employees' aprons and vests have been replaced by a more polished navy polo and khaki uniform.

Customer service will be available during peak hours from specialists in electronics and cosmetics. Bikes are assembled out in the open so that staffers can answer questions at the same time.

About 1,500 premium items not sold in other Wal-Mart stores are being tested here, said Ryan Lincks, project manager and senior analyst for U.S. strategy for the retailer.

The store doesn't sell fabric or guns and carries less fishing gear than a typical Wal-Mart. Instead, that space is now devoted to fitness equipment, kids' crafts, sporting goods, patio furniture and hot tubs. Automotive supply aisles are also smaller.

"This customer doesn't work on the family's cars," Mr. Lincks said.

Arkansas-based Wal-Mart has a history of trying new concepts in Dallas-Fort Worth. More recently, these have included 24-hour pharmacies and an environmentally friendly store in McKinney.

The new Plano store has been shaped to fit the lifestyle of area residents, many of whom strongly opposed its construction.

Heres the link but you will need Bugmenot if you dont want to register
http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/bus/storie...n2.913b9b8.html

[zetec]

and actually, that walmart is as close to willowbend as you can get