South Surrey descends on new Wal-Mart 'Supercentre'
A massive Wal-Mart store opens at 24th Ave and 160th Street. There are 31 check outs in the store.
Photograph by : Ian Smith/Vancouver Sun
Shoppers jammed the 1,000-stall parking lot at Wal-Mart's newest supercentre in south Surrey, the second such format store and biggest in B.C., not long after its grand opening Wednesday at 8 a.m.
The 218,000-square-foot behemoth boasts a full grocery store with bakery and deli, a first for B.C., bringing the world's largest retailer into this province's grocery wars.
"[The supercentre] format is the way of the future," Rick Mather, Wal-Mart's district manager for B.C. supercentres, said in an interview, "one-stop shopping, that's where we're going."
Replete with lower environmental impact touches such as LED lighting in exterior signage and a recycling centre, the outlet also houses a pet centre, clothing aisles, a pharmacy and automotive centre. It also leases space to a Tim Hortons, a McDonald's, a hair salon and nail salon.
Mather said B.C.'s first Wal-Mart supercentre, opened in Duncan on Vancouver Island, has had good success, and "if you look today, we're doing well [in south Surrey]."
Mather estimated that 300 to 400 people lined up to be among the first in the doors to get at opening specials such as seedless grapes for 97 cents a pound, giant packs of brand-name disposable diapers for $29.97 and 15-roll packages of brand-name paper towels for $9.97.
Mather added that Wal-Mart was drawn by the location, a large parcel of property at the southwest corner of 24th Avenue and 160th Street, in the epicentre of what has become the sprawling growth of the south Surrey and White Rock areas.
"It's accessible road-wise," Mather added, "right off Highway 99."
By late morning Wednesday, the store's 34 checkout counters were all buzzing with multi-cart lineups; for many shoppers, it was the one-stop-shopping concept that lured them.
"I actually just came in to see what was available," Surrey working mother Gurmit Athwal said, "but I ended up buying lots of stuff. I felt they were very, very, very reasonable prices."
Athwal had to make three trips to cart out all of her purchases, from king-sized bedding sets to dishwashing detergent, and reckons that the store will change the way she shops.
Juggling two jobs, Athwal said that Wal-Mart's convenient hours, 6 a.m. to midnight, will allow her to shop between shifts. The store is also conveniently located within a 10-to-15 minute drive from her home.
"I felt that I can just come to the store and get all my shopping done," Athwal said, "and I'm going to do that."
Stephen Casson also made a brief five-to-10 minute trek from his home, curious to check out the store that he has watched develop.
"It's a very large store, and I must say I'm very impressed," Casson said. "It's going to be interesting to see what happens with the local guys, the small stores, but the economy's booming out here, housing's growing."
Chander Arora, owner of Michael's Artisan Bakery & Cafe just down 24th Avenue from the Wal-Mart, is one of those small retailers concerned about how his business will be affected.
"I can't stop anybody from having a business," Arora said, but,"they have a bigger outfit, more buying power and try to undercut people."
He hopes his bakery's unique offerings - European-style breads such as spelt and caraway rye, rich baked goods such as chocolate hazelnut cheesecake - will help differentiate his business from the mega-competitor down the street.
"We try to give a personal service and we know a lot of our customers by name and what they require," he said,
Mel Jesson, partner in the neighbouring Black Bond Books, said "you can't go up against Wal-Mart."
However, he doesn't anticipate the south Surrey outlet of Black Bond's 10-store chain will suffer much, since it caters to customers interested in books other than the best-sellers on Wal-Mart's shelves.
"There's a certain novelty when there's a new place," Jesson said, "whether it's the big books box [store] or a store like Wal-Mart. But that'll wear off."
Retail consultant David Ian Gray, with the firm Dig360, said smaller stores that do things that Wal-Mart doesn't do should have less to worry about.
"[Wal-Mart] is really going up against a Superstore, or Save-On-Foods," Gray said.
Shoppers who regularly go to specialty stores such as Whole Foods or Capers, or like to hit their corner produce store for the freshest fruits and vegetables likely won't change their habits.
However, stores like Safeway or Save-On-Foods, and even big boxes like Canadian Tire, will have to step up service to compete.
Gray added that the supercentre has been key to Wal-Mart's resurgence over the past couple of years.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/n...9-9065bc45f753
Supercentre opens
By Laura Baziuk - Peace Arch News
Published: July 30, 2008 3:00 PM
Updated: July 30, 2008 5:02 PM
It was not even 10 a.m. yet on opening day, and already hundreds of people had emerged from South Surrey's Wal-Mart Supercentre – one of the chain's biggest stores in B.C. – shopping carts full.
"It's good. I don't have to go to Langley anymore," said Candis Golanowski.
She had visited the 215,000-sq. ft. store's fresh produce section, which regular Wal-Marts do not have and therefore gives this location its supercentre name. "I'm very impressed with the meat prices."
Cars crawled the parking lot, cash registers buzzed and dinged and blue-vested employees fluttered through the aisles.
"It was pretty crowded," said Stephen Chen. He and his family came from Vancouver to check out the wares, and ended their trip armed with a GPS unit, rice pot, TV, laptop and paper towels.
Another shopper, who identified himself only as Darren, left with a 50-inch flat-screen TV. He went in looking for a deal on diapers.
Assistant store manager Brenda Canning said, so far, opening day has brought few problems.
"I'm amazed. I've actually had coffee, that's how smooth it is," she said.
"The customers are very excited. We sold out of (Nintendo) Wiis in, like, five minutes."
The Grandview Corners location is at 2355 160 St.
http://www.bclocalnews.com/surrey_ar.../26119644.html
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