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University of Arkansas′ Big-Box Bacalaureate

University of Arkansas′ Big-Box Bacalaureate

Walmart has been trying to expand into cities like New York and Washington, D.C. for a while now sparking debate about big box retail in urban centers along the way. To find space, Walmart will likely have to abandon the supercenter in favor of a more petite space, but slimming down to a mere 3,500 square feet sounds pretty extreme.

Billed as the smallest Walmart in the world, the new store opened last Friday and shares space in a new mixed-use building with boutiques and a froyo shop and shoulders right up to the sidewalk rather than the ubiquitous parking lot of traditional big-box retail. Packed into the store’s 3,500 square feet is a full-service pharmacy, replacing a recently closed campus pharmacy and general goods and groceries. (That’s only 2% the size of a typical 185,000 square foot Supercenter!)

If this a model that could work in urban areas around the country? Advertising Age speculates that the Walmart on Campus store could be a sign for a leaner, meaner Walmart of the future, citing CEO Bill Simon’s calls for testing out new varieties of small stores. Could you be running down to the corner Walmart in years to come?

Designed by Herbert Lewis Kruse Blunck Architecture of Des Moines, Iowa and Amirmoez Foster Hailey Johnson Architects of Fayetteville, Arkansas, the new Garland Avenue Shops include the 30,000 square foot UA Bookstore along with 20,000 square feet of retail space, of which Walmart has taken 3,500. A slat-covered, 1,500 spot parking deck hovers above the retail space and a central courtyard with outdoor seating and bike racks faces away from the street. (More photos of the building on flickr.)

[ Via Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space, photo by Walter Lang. ]

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