Walmart quietly makes major change to stores that’s bad news for Americans as even exec admits it has a ‘big impact’

WALMART has been quietly reducing the size of its parking lots over many years, a former exec has claimed.

John Clarke said the decision has had a “huge impact” on the major retailer.

Clarke, who was Walmart's vice president of US Real Estate for more than 30 years, revealed in a 2021 report that had been cutting the size of its parking lot for at least a decade.

He said that bosses were “willing” to have as low as four spaces per thousand square feet at a store.

Clarke said that the major retailer used to have a ratio of six spaces per thousand square feet per store.

It means that the number of car parking spaces at a large supercenter has been cut from 1200 to 800.

The former exec said that cutting the number of spaces has produced huge effects for the company.

He added: “It has a big impact: on the size of land needed for store, the cost of striping and cleaning the parking lots, just to light it at night.

“It’s a significant cost factor for the facility to have one less stall.”

Data from the US Department of Agriculture revealed that more than 80 percent of Americans use their car to go to the grocery store.

And, 90 percent of people in the country live within 10 miles of a Walmart store.

Clarke, who left the company in 2021, revealed that the emergence of online shopping is one of the factors that explain the need for less parking.

He said: “We believe it is not due to more people walking or biking or taking Lyft and Uber.”

The U.S. Sun has approached Walmart for further comment on this issue.

Walmart saw a huge explosion in online sales at the height of the pandemic.

In 2021, more than 25 per cent of all click-and-collect orders in the U.S. went to Walmart, research from Insider Intelligence revealed.

Tom Ward, the chief e-commerce officer for Walmart U.S, told CNBC: “The store is becoming a shopping fulfillment center.

SALES BOOM

“And if the store acts like a fulfillment center, we can send those items the shortest distance in the fastest time.”

Earlier this month, Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner revealed that it’s vital the giant continues to evolve.

Speaking at a National Retail Federation event, he said: “If you are not offering the best customer experience, your customers will just move on to someone else who is.

“And with the pace of change, we are seeing across the industry; it is more important than ever that we keep changing.”

The retailer is testing a new store layout that includes showrooms and revamped digital displays.

The Beavercreek, Ohio site has been dubbed the “store of the future” and will be used as a prototype for future renovated outlets.

STORE CHANGES

Walmart has pumped $130million into 28 stores for the upgrades.

The updated stores will also feature mock bedrooms, similar to what customers would find in Ikea.

These bedroom displays will also have QR codes that customers can scan to find the exact products on Walmart.com.

New digital displays in the pet supply and baby sections will offer more information on products.

Walmart continues to roll out its drone delivery service across states including Arizona, Florida, and Texas.

Deliveries can weigh a maximum of 10 pounds, and shoppers will have to fork out a $3.99 delivery fee, but this means products like diapers and hot dog buns can be delivered in as little as 30 minutes.

But, not all residents are thrilled about the futuristic technology.

Arizona resident Mike Baxter told KPHO: “It sounds like a hornet’s nest that’s been kicked up. I am not against drones but do it somewhere else. It's not a necessary service here."