Steve Owens Photo / City of Greer
Greer Mayor Rick Danner welcomed the Neighborhood Market to Greer Wedneday. His message of Walmart adapting to Greer's existing real estate and work force was echoed by Kevin Clinton, Market Manager, for the nation's No. 1 grocery chain.
Steve Owens Photo / City of Greer
The first customers to shop at Greer's Neighborhood Market waited an hour in temperatures that were in the mid-20s.
Steve Owens Photo / City of Greer
Kevin Clinton, Market Manager for Walmart stores, said the nation's No. 1 grocery chain offers more diverse and a bigger quantity of food products than its Superstores.
Shoppers weren't the only ones cheering at the Market's opening ceremonies Wednesday morning. Employees, many from Greer, including the manager, Kirsten Tucker, and assistant manager, Jennifer Rader Hill, celebrated the store's launch in South Carolina.
The second Walmart Neighborhood Market is being built only 7.57 miles from Greer’s location at 805 West Wade Hampton, Blvd., that opened to much fanfare Wednesday morning.
The Greenville Neighborhood Market will open later this year at the 2100 block at Wade Hampton Blvd. at the Kmart store and next to QuikTrip.
Kevin Clinton, Market Manager for Walmart Stores, said the Upstate has been targeted where the company is planting its footprint in South Carolina. Greer’s store is the first of its kind in the state. “Spartanburg and Greenville counties are a healthy market,” Clinton said. “We know traffic is heavy in the (Hwy.) 29 corridor.”
Clinton said the concept of a smaller store with aggressive pricing will serve Walmart’s demographics. “This prototype is about quick trips and low prices. People have gone to Ingles and Bi-Lo but they will come here because they can get in and out and our basket prices are lower overall,” he said. Clinton qualified that statement saying the company has done basket pricing in the area to justify its foray into the greater Greer area.
Interestingly, the Greer Neighborhood Market and Superstore, 2.38 miles apart, will be as equidistant to the Taylors Superstore and the Greenville Market, separated by only 2.02 miles.
Associates at the Greer store have been alerted of a possible transfer.
Clinton said Greenville is a market that can handle the options both stores offer. “We haven’t seen any impact on the bigger stores from the Markets,” he said. Walmart's manifest is not to take items off any of its stores shelves. "We can offer more different product here."
An additional advantage of nearby Markets to Superstores is the ability to have merchandise delivered to the grocery stores for pickup. “Customers can purchase an item from online or nearby stores and have it picked up the next day where they shop for groceries,” Clinton said.
Clinton did not say where future growth would occur. He said a reported Neighborhood Market in Clemson, near the campus, "is a ways off".
The Greer store is a relaunch of Walmart’s self-checking. The company announced it was adding more self-checkout lines in Greer to reduce costs. “(Corporate) will be watching us to see how it works here,” Greer Market manager Kirsten Tucker said.
Kirsten also said Walmart is testing a system that would allow shoppers to scan items from their iPhones and then pay at a self-checkout. That is not yet available in Greer.