Walmart Canada Launches State-of-the-Art Urban Supercentre Concept Store

Retail giant Walmart Canada has unveiled what it calls its new Urban Supercentre Concept store in Toronto which integrates ecommerce, third-party licensees, state-of-the-art technology, and an updated assortment into a new bricks-and-mortar design and layout for urban markets.

The retailer’s Toronto-Stockyards location will be home for the new prototype store which is introducing “Fast Lane” - new technology that will allow customers to use the My Walmart app on their mobile device to shop and checkout quickly and seamlessly.

"With our new Urban Supercentre Concept, we're continuing to position ourselves as a leader in store design and retail innovation," said Lee Tappenden, president and CEO of Walmart Canada, in a news release. "We're introducing new partners, testing new and innovative technologies, integrating ecommerce with bricks and mortar and updating our assortment to improve the customer shopping experience and to appeal more to young families in urban markets.

"Our new concept is a symbol of what's to come in retail and demonstrates our vision for helping Canadians save money and live better, now and in the future.”

The company said a new licensee strategy reflects emerging trends and evolving customer needs, adding new partners like Freshii, MINISO, The UPS Store and The Party Shop. Also new associate positions have been added to focus on customer service, including online grocery and general merchandise pickup.

The “Fast Lane” checkout technology allows customers to scan products as they shop. Store associates – including new full- and part-time associates – work alongside state-of-the-art technology to help make shopping as easy and convenient as possible for customers, said the retailer.

A second Urban Supercentre Concept will launch in Thornhill, in Vaughan, Ontario, next year and best practices from these two stores will be used in future store renovations.

Walmart Stockyards, which first opened in January 2005, has about 300 full and part-time staff in 139,000 square feet of space. It is one of 135 Supercentres in Ontario.

Paula Bonner, Senior Vice President, Format Development, Walmart Canada, said the company has been remodelling a number of its stores over the last couple of years, spending $200 million just this year and over $1 billion over the last five years.

“This is a continuation of that learning where we’ve been focused a lot on our suburban and more rural stores and we really wanted to look at our urban stores thinking about our young millennial families and so we thought we needed to think about the customer offer for that customer and that is what this concept is all about,” she said. “It’s thinking about what is relevant for young families, young moms, today and what is the assortment they require, what is the experience they require.

“When you look at our fleet of stores, and Stockyards where we are today in Toronto is right in the heart of that urban millennial family and obviously conveniently close to our store support centre which is always important when you’re looking at doing a prototype like this.”

Features of the new Urban Supercentre Concept at Stockyards include:

“As we’re remodelling our chain what we’re doing is really testing and learning various concepts,” said Bonner, adding that the company does not have a number of how many stores will eventually adopt the new Urban Supercentre Concept.

Alykhan Kanji, Vice President, Format Development, said the company did research through its customers asking them what would enable them to have a better shopping experience.

“They gave a lot of their feedback and that has been incorporated into the design itself,” he said.