The Neighborhood Market in Greer would be the first venture of Walmart's grocery store concept to be launched in South Carolina.
The Neighborhood Market typically has about 40,000-50,000 square feet. The grocery stores are located, routinely, in former food stores that have gone dark.
“Greer is an area of interest,” Glenn Wilson, a real estate broker for Walmart properties in the southeast, said. “We don’t have any Neighborhood Markets in South Carolina or Georgia. This is a relatively new concept and we have an aggressive growth plan.”
Wilson said the grocery store concept typically looks for properties similar to the vacant Winn-Dixie store on Wade Hampton Blvd.
“We look for former grocery stores that have been dark,” Wilson said. "A typical Neighborhood Market has about 40,000 square feet and is a full-service grocery store, with deli, dairy, household products and a pharmacy.”
Wilson said the market would not result in the Walmart Supercenter on E. Wade Hampton Blvd. having to eliminate its grocery department. “We don’t ever take inventory down or remove it from the floor,” Wilson said.
The Walmart Market concept debuted in 1998 as the Neighborhood Market in Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Florida. It was an avenue for Walmart to learn the grocery business.
The concept stalled and Walmart incorporated the Market idea into its Supercenters. Walmart ranks as the country’s largest grocer and half of its revenue is generated from grocery sales.
“People like the smaller grocery store concept, compared to the Supercenter because they can get in and get out,” Wilson said. “What we’ve seen is that the Neighborhood Market has been overwhelmingly received.”
The Neighborhood Market stores are typically open 24 hours a day.