Mass merchant Walmart (Bentonville, Ark.) has remodeled five of its SuperCenters in the Eastern U.S. into flagship stores featuring upgraded visual merchandising, CNBC reports. The move is designed to spur sales of higher-margin, discretionary items such as apparel, beauty products and home furnishings.
Alvis Washington, Walmart’s VP of marketing, store design, innovation and experience, told the cable news network that the retailer decided to bring the new look to other markets after getting positive feedback from a test store sporting the concept near its headquarters in Arkansas. (That previous coverage said Walmart planned as many as 30 such flagships.) In shopper surveys, he said, nearly every shopper said that store’s displays and mannequins encouraged them to browse longer.
“They appreciate the fact that we’re still true to who we are as Walmart,” he said. “Great prices. But then also we now have these new brands that we’re actually showcasing in inspirational ways.”
The new-look stores are in Teterboro and North Bergen, N.J.; Yaphank, N.Y.; Quakertown, Pa.; and Hodgkins, Ill. At least one more is on the way, in Secaucus, N.J.