NEW YORK — Supermercado de Wal-Mart, the new Hispanic-focused food concept from Wal-Mart, opened its first location in Houston Wednesday, bringing what Eduardo Castro-Wright, vice chairman of Wal-Mart, called “the most dramatic expression” of its recent efforts to improve fresh food merchandising.

Speaking at the Barclay’s Capital Retail and Restaurant conference here yesterday, Castro-Wright said the new store devotes more space to fresh items and an assortment suited for the store’s target Hispanic consumer.

“We decided that for this [format], fresh is important and we’re going to win fresh, and presenting it in a traditional environment was not going to be enough,” Castro-Wright said.

The 39,000-square-foot Supermercado de Wal-Mart will carry approximately 13,000 products, including a wide assortment of fresh tropical fruits and vegetables and a bakery that offers more than 40 traditional sweet breads and fresh corn tortillas, according to the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer. The store’s meat department features specialty meats such as milanesa, diezmillo, fajitas, chuleta de cerdo, carnes marinadas and arrachera, designed to meet the specific preferences of local Hispanic customers.

Castro-Wright said the Houston store is the first of “several” in the format planned by Wal-Mart. “We have great expectations for this,” he said.

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