Walmart Stores Inc. (Bentonville, Ark.) said it will experiment with a new distribution system in which it uses its largest stores – its supercenters – as “cross hubs” for its growing number of smaller stores.
The move would help it keep goods in stock and cut costs. The system is set to roll out in March 2014, in the first of three unnamed markets.
Using the back room of a supercenter as a ” mini-warehouse” for daily deliveries to smaller stores would eliminate the need to send 53-foot trucks from distribution centers to smaller stores, said Walmart U.S. ceo Bill Simon.
For the first time ever, Walmart plans to open more smaller-format stores than supercenters in the U.S. Plans for 2015 call for between 235 and 265 new stores, of which about 120 to 150 will be small.