Wal-Mart Debuts Express Format in Chicago

SN STAFF

CHICAGO — This city's first small-format Walmart Express store is slated to open here Wednesday in the Chatham neighborhood.

The 10,000-square-foot store, one of nine Wal-Mart locations planned for the city, will offer a wide selection of groceries as well as a pharmacy and a financial services desk center. It is the first urban test for Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores' new format, which debuted in rural Arkansas and North Carolina earlier this year.

According to a report in Crain's Chicago Business, the Chicago location dedicates about two thirds of its space to grocery items, and locates the pharmacy near the front of the store. At the back are 47 frozen and refrigerated doors and a 10-door beverage cooler, the report said. The store will employ 20-40 people, Crain's reported.

Three additional Express stores, plus three Walmart Market stores — more like an average supermarket in size — and two supercenters are on tap for Chicago.