Merchandising mindset on display in Wal-Mart prototype

DSN Retailing Today, June 13, 2005 by Mike Troy

ROGERS, ARK. -- The thousands of investors, analysts and Wal-Mart employees who descended on Northwest Arkansas earlier this month for the retailer's annual meeting of shareholders came away from the event with more insight than normal.

For many of those in attendance, the trip included a visit to WM-Mart's newest prototype store, a 203,000-square-foot supercenter that contains a host of merchandising initiatives and opened on May 25 alongside Interstate Highway 540. It was impossible to miss the store since 1-540 is the primary artery through the re-gion--every bus and rental car filled with out-of-town visitors passed the store on their way from Bentonville to Fayetteville where the annual meeting was held.

"I think it is appropriate that this Wal-Mart sits at the gateway to our community to remind people that this is Wal-Mart country," Rogers Mayor Steve Womack said as he addressed approximately 500 people at the grand opening from atop a flat bed trailer in the store's parking lot. After slipping on a blue vest, the mayor worked the front door as a people greeter, welcoming customers to a store in which Wal-Mart expects to learn much.

Those learnings will come from throughout the store, but three areas in particular--electronics, lawn and garden and food--offer customers some fairly dramatic change.

For starters, the fun factor in electronics has been elevated thanks to changes in the assortment and presentation of hot product categories such as MP3 players, Apple IPods and satellite radios from XM and Sirius. Those items are grouped together on a prominent fixture adjacent to the store's main racetrack that occupies a spot where high-definition televisions were previously positioned. HDTVs were moved to an 84-foot stretch of the store's rear wall where they are merchandised by screen size against a black background that makes the color pop.

There's also a new presentation of laptop computers and a hybrid build-your-own self-service computer set where customers can mix and match components. Wal-Mart simplified decision-making by offering customers four system configurations that can be customized with different types of keyboards, monitors, speakers and other peripherals.

The increased size of the electronics department and adjacent kids video section prompted the relocation of the photo lab and digital camera assortment to a new position on the inside perimeter of the main racetrack near electronics. The location isn't exactly new, though, since photo and electronics were merchandised in the interior of the store more than a decade ago. Both categories have changed considerably since then and the new configuration makes photo more accessible and electronics more exciting.

Those who prefer outdoor activities will find some adjustments to the lawn and garden area. The changes are not as numerous as in electronics, but several are substantial. The most notable is a nearly 200-foot-long double-wide drive-through alley where bagged materials and landscaping supplies are stacked in tall steel racks. Customers enter at one end, load their vehicles and if it's a peak time they can pay a cashier working a portable checkstand at the exit. The approach is superior to the situation that exists at some Wal-Mart stores where vertically stacked cinder blocks and landscape timbers are used to create a corral in the store parking lot where landscape products are merchandised.

From an operational standpoint, the store contains a unique feature whereby an approximately 7,000-square-foot covered space with roll-up walls can be converted for different seasonal uses. At the grand opening it was used for patio furniture, but this fall it will convert to trim-a-tree. The garden center is expected to be a busy department with four cash registers located at the exit.

While the changes in electronics and lawn and garden were significant, other changes affected the food area in general and frozen foods specifically. After years of positioning three rows of frozen and refrigerated cases at the front of its supercenters, those three fixtures are positioned at the rear of the Rogers store. The change is expected to reduce costs, simplify replenishment and drive increased traffic to the rear of the store.

Another change involved the seafood department, which has been pushed back 50 feet from its standard position along the side wall near the deli and bakery. The change makes the area appear more open and an angled freezer case in front of the department makes the area more interesting visually.

Wal-Mart is also experimenting with a new remote ordering station for the deli. Rather than wait in line, customers can key in their order for deli items, do their shopping and pick up their order from a specially-designed refrigerated case on their way out.

Other changes to the store reflect Wal-Mart's current thinking toward merchandising and operations and are included in other new stores as well. For example, the Rogers location includes a drive-through pharmacy attached to the main building. Wal-Mart has also experimented with drive-through lanes located in supercenter parking lots because the convenience of drive-through pharmacy is something customers now expect.