Family Life

10.23.09 | FL News Team

Wal-Mart says it's going to begin relying on smaller, more efficient stores to drive expansion in the future. The world's largest retailer had been on a tear to open supercenters, some larger than three football fields in size recently but that's changing. During its analyst meeting Thursday the company said smaller stores would help the company penetrate into as yet untapped urban markets where real estate can be very expensive. The company also announced plans this week to keep the competition at bay. Wal-Mart says it will slash prices every week until Christmas.

Wal-Mart is expecting to see sales growth up to two-percent this fiscal year, well below the seven-percent forecast offered at last year's analyst meeting. The forecast for next year is four to six-percent sales growth. The company also expects to add about 38-million square feet of shopping space around the planet in the next year.