Wal-Mart renovates valley store as part of national makeover

Store manager Duane McCabe wants to ensure that renovation of the deli at his Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market is finished in time for the Fourth of July.

He's got the top-selling store in Las Vegas for rotisserie chicken -- about 550 to 600 birds a week at $5 a package -- and he expects ready-made food sales to sizzle that weekend.

The store, which opened at 1400 S. Lamb Blvd. six years ago, is undergoing a
$1.2 million renovation, including a new look for the deli and bakery, improved signs in the aisles, upgraded checkout stands and remodeled restrooms.

And there's a new name: Wal-Mart Market.

It's part of Wal-Mart's nationwide redesign of neighborhood markets based on feedback from customers, McCabe said. The renovation to be completed July 22 brings a new look to the store with low-profile shelves, bright interior paint scheme and lighting, and new signs to guide customers to products, he said.

"It's a lot of transition, a lot cleaner look," the store manager said as he pointed out changes to the deli and produce department. "There's a lot of different looks to a grocery store. Some stores are going for mass product. We're more about eye appeal and functionality. It allows us to provide a better product and shopping experience for our customers."

Every department of the store will be updated, as will the product assortment. The new layout is designed to make shopping for everyday items easier and faster by "remerchandising," or aligning products that customers purchase the most, McCabe said.

For example, rice was stocked in six places around the store. Now it's in three places -- bulk foods, Asian specialties and the main aisle for rice and pasta.

The deli has a new display case for hot foods and an island case that's twice the size of the previous one. It's also getting a new oven and adding a chicken cooler, McCabe said.

The store is open during renovation. Most of the work is being done overnight for minimal disruption to some 2,000 daily customers.

Audrey McNeill, a store planner for Wal-Mart from Utah, said the project employs about 30 people, including carpenters, electricians, painters, plumbers and tile specialists.

Martin-Harris Construction, which built the first Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market in Las Vegas, is the general contractor.

Wal-Mart grabbed a bigger share of the grocery business in Las Vegas when it introduced its Neighborhood Market concept in 2004, starting with a store at 6151 W. Lake Mead Blvd. There are now 11 of the stores in the valley, McCabe said. The Lake Mead store is next in line for renovation, he added.

The prototype market is about 40,000 square feet, much smaller and more convenient for grocery shopping than the 200,000-square-foot Wal-Mart supercenters.

They fill the gap between discount grocery stores and supercenters, offering a full line of groceries, pharmaceuticals, health and beauty aids and a limited selection of general merchandise.

A photo department was eliminated from the Lamb store several years ago to give the entrance a more open look, McCabe said.

The first Neighborhood Market opened in 1998, in Bentonville, Ark., corporate headquarters for Wal-Mart Stores. As of April, there were 184 Neighborhood Markets in the United States.

Wal-Mart is now the largest grocery retailer in the United States. In 2009, it generated more than half of its $258 billion in sales from grocery business.

Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.