Wal-Mart targets retirees as Jersey blitz continues - Wal-Mart opens its Toms River, New Jersey store

Discount Store News, March 15, 1993 by Richard Halveson

TOMS RIVER, N.J. - Wal-Mart has opened here on Route 37 the fourth of an 18-store blitz planned for New Jersey for 1993 and 1994.

The opening March 2 was the second in the estate this year, following the Marlton unit in January. Last year, it opened its first two units in New Jersey in Turnersville and Berlin.

The next of four more '93 openings will be in Manahawkin, on Route 70, in a couple of months, followed by Burlington, Penns Landing and North Brunswick (on the fringes of the New York metro market).

The Toms River opening was one of 33 units Wal-Mart opened the same day: 12 new stores; five relocations, three expansions; four Supercenters, and nine Sam's Clubs.

Other northeastern openings that day were in: East Greenbush and Wallkill, N.Y.,; Farmington, Me., and Johnstown, Pa., said Larry Williams, northeast regional vice president, who attended the Toms River opening.

Beckoning to the tens of thousands of retirees who live in dozens of area retirement villages, the Toms River store provides two motorized shopping cars for the handicapped and two wheelchair carts. Elderly patrons made good use of both types on grand opening day.

Because so many retirement villages surround the store, Toms River is employing a special senior coordinator. Her first task is to arrange with retirement villages to add Wal-Mart to the shopping bus routes they set up for residents, who often no longer can drive. And the store plans to hold bingo one day a week at 7:30 a.m. with free coffee, cake and gift certificates as prizes.

The store also plans to do more micromarketing for senior citizens, Williams said. "Our customers will let us know" what to stock, he said.

For senior citizens, the store already plans to stock more sugar and salt-free food products, more health and beauty care products, such as Maalox, more greeting cards for their grandchildren, and more golf apparel, Williams said.

The store also features a one-hour photo center, which includes a section for portraits, a pharmacy, and a vision center.

To hold down expenses, the pharmacy closes on Sunday, Williams said, because the volume of business is too low to justify the cost.

Already, the store stocks two skus of inexpensive canes and has added several rounders of large size apparel for elderly women, said store manager Todd Noe. During a 10-day soft opening period, the store sold a lot of Slim-Fast, he said, as well as a surprising amount of domestics.

Accordingly, the action alley features domestics displays such as pillows, lamps, mini-blinds, hampers and comforters, Noe pointed out.

The store plans to increase its offerings of RTA furniture geared to the elderly market.

Because senior citizens dress more warmly, Toms River will stock a mix of jackets and sweaters year-round.

Since the store is located close to Jersey shore resort towns, it is beefing up its selection of salt water fishing tackle, Noe said, and will skew its outdoor furniture line toward beach chairs over lawn chairs.

The store exhibited a few strains on Wal-Mart's vaunted distribution system, especially regarding private label products.

The store carried, for example, none of the Sam's American Choice sodas, including its new Clearly Free line of flavored fruit sodas at 68 cents for a liter bottle. The department manager said the chain is having "warehouse problems" and won't get the new Clearly Free line in for a couple of weeks.