NEW YORK — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Wednesday said Walmart U.S., the company's biggest unit, plans to accelerate its small store openings, mostly in its Neighborhood Market formats. Including about 170 Neighborhood Market stores at the start of the year, the company plans to open over 240 Neighborhood Market stores, usually under 50,000 square feet in size, by fiscal year 2013 and open 12 of its new Walmart Express format, about 10,000 to 15,000 square feet in size, by end of fiscal 2013. Over 500 Neighborhood Markets will be open by fiscal year 2016 generating over $10 billion of sales, Walmart U.S. Chief Executive Bill Simon said at the company's analyst meeting. He said Neighborhood Market's first-half comparable sales were up 5%, double the growth rate of the Walmart U.S. average. "They give us a competitive advantage," Simon said. The company said it will continue to grow its supercenter stores, about 182,000 square feet, in its core markets.
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