The retailer's smaller-format stores, called Neighborhood Markets, are a major threat to traditional supermarkets like Whole Foods, Kroger, and Trader Joe's, and they are expanding rapidly, according to Moody's analysts.
"The advantages of the Neighborhood Market concept will be difficult to beat back," Moody's Vice President Charles O'Shea said in a recent note to clients.
Traditional supermarkets have "upped their games over the past few years to somewhat blunt the onslaught of the Supercenters," analysts write, but the Neighborhood Market is a "different animal."
T he Markets are like compacted Supercenters. They offer the same low prices as Wal-Mart's giant warehouse stores, but in a much smaller and more easily accessible location, giving the Neighborhood Markets a "distinct competitive advantage over virtually anyone," analysts write.
The Markets focus on three of Wal-Mart's strongest categories — groceries, pharmacies, and fuel — and they are more conveniently located to urban centers, whereas Supercenters are typically located on city outskirts.