Walmart opens New Fuel Station in Plano, Texas. The Walmart footprint is approx. 2,900 sf and will be situated in Supercenter parking lots. This comes after testing the c-store model in 2 test locations in Crowley, Texas and Rogers, Arkansas. Walmart plans to open 3 additional fuel stations in the Dallas MSA by year end 2018. This approach serves as a strategy to enter the convenience store business, capitalize on the excess real estate in their parking lots and provide the needs of todays on the go consumer.

It will be interesting to see how Walmart intends to grow this C-Store model. If their vision is just to add it to their existing stores and provide an option to fill up their tanks that will help with creating a consistent experience for their customers, no brainer. If their interest is to grow the C-Store concept, by acquiring hard corner locations at signalized intersections and compete with Wawa, Circle K, RaceTrac, 7-Eleven, etc. that is a completely different story. Let’s see what this Mammoth has up their sleeves!

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