Wal-Mart, other big boxes, join Main Street

Wal-Mart, the king of discount superstores on suburban commercial strips, has apparently discovered a new market — city dwellers. Wal-Mart recently opened a store in a mixed-use, urban location in Long Beach, California, without the usual sea of parking in front. Instead the parking will be in two nearby garages. In Dallas, plans are under way for a two-story building with underground parking and a “storefront facade,” according to a recent article in the industry publication Shopping Centers Today. Wal-Mart has already built urban-format stores in a handful of locations, including Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and New Orleans, and has developed at least two two-story stores, according to company spokesman Keith Morris. The company is looking to build somewhat smaller stores in urban locations, with merchandise tailored to the urban market. New urbanist planner and retail consultant Bob Gibbs says Wal-Mart’s shift in focus is part of a much larger trend. “The entire retail industry is now totally into urban retail, of one form or another,” says Gibbs. “All major departments stores — including May, Federated, Sears, and Penney’s — are coming out with urban two-level models. It has been determined that shoppers do prefer to shop outside, in an urban environment.” This trend applies to all regions of the US, Gibbs adds, even in the wintry Northeast and Midwest. Urban stores in the north “have even higher sales than the South due to stronger outside summer sales,” he says. New urbanists have “won the revolution,” Gibbs states, when it comes to retail. Yet there are challenges ahead. Urban retail comes in two forms — true town centers containing a mix of housing, retail, office, and civic uses, and — in stark contrast — “lifestyle centers” which offer only retail. The former is preferable, but is prevented by most zoning codes, Gibbs says. He adds that new urban retail “will pose a much larger threat to existing Main Street town centers, if they do not react quickly to allow for large urban retailers.” u