We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (2024)

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Rachel Askinasi

2019-06-15T17:40:53Z

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (1)

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (2)

  • Walmart is the largest brick-and-mortar retailer in the world in terms of sales.
  • Walmart has only three different store formats across the US: Walmart Discount Store Stores, Walmart Supercenters, and Walmart Neighborhood Markets.
  • While the Discount Store store model is the original — founder Sam Walton opened the first one in 1962 — there are now two times more Supercenters — which were first developed in 1988 — than there are Discount Store stores, according to Walmart.
  • The two stores serve different purposes, according to Walmart. Supercenters are in more highly populated areas offering both general merchandise and groceries, while the Discount Store stores tend to be in more rural areas and mostly stick to offering general merchandise.
  • In terms of a physical footprint, a company representative told Business Insider that Supercenters stand at around 190,000 square feet, while Discount Store stores are closer to 40,000 square feet.
  • All that extra square footage in the Supercenter we visited allowed for shelves across the store to be stocked with even more variety than at the Discount Store store we went to.
  • Regardless of size, there are certain things that each store did better than the other — like the outdoor section of the Discount Store store and the food section of the Supercenter.
  • After walking through both stores, we think the Supercenter is the place to go if you want to get all of your shopping done at once, including groceries, and the Discount Store store is a great option for anyone looking to get in, grab what they need, and get on with their day.
  • Here's how the two models stack up against one another.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

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Walmart, Inc. is the largest brick and mortar retailer in the world with stores in 27 countries under a variety of brand names.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (3)

David J. Phillip/AP Images

Source: Investopedia, Business Insider

In the US, there are three different formats of the brick and mortar Walmart stores which include Walmart Supercenters ...

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (4)

REUTERS/Rick Wilking

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... Walmart Discount Stores ...

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (5)

... and Walmart Neighborhood Markets.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (6)

Business Insider/Hayley Peterson

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We set out to see how the newer supercenter model stacks up to its original discount store counterpart —the first discount store opened in 1962 and the first supercenter opened in 1988.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (7)

Rachel Askinasi/Business Insider

Source: Walmart

So we headed to the Walmart Discount Store in Norwalk, Connecticut ...

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (8)

Google Maps

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... and the Walmart Supercenter in Secaucus, New Jersey to see how the two compared.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (9)

Google Maps

At first glance, the two stores looked the same. As we walked through the first set of automatic doors in Norwalk we saw a sea of shopping carts to our right ...

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (10)

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... and a few arcade games that seemed a bit out of place next to a key-cutting machine on our left.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (11)

In Secaucus, the store had the same double sliding door entryway and there was a similar cluster of carts to our left ...

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (12)

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... and the games and key cutting machine to our right. But the machine and games looked less out of place at the supercenter because there were vending machines filling up the wall as well.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (13)

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... a guest services area for anyone who had specific questions or needed to make returns ...

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (15)

... and a small Dunkin' outpost —the smell of doughnuts was strong and hit us right as we walked through the door before we even got a chance to see where it was coming from.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (16)

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There was a similar stack of bulk items in the supercenter ...

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (17)

... but there was also so much more. Shelves of bread, cookies, and cakes were to our left, and there was a sea of fresh produce in front of us.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (18)

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There were also spring flowers on display — we visited Secaucus in the spring and Norwalk in the winter.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (19)

While there was no Dunkin' in the Secaucus store, there was a large McDonald's which included a dining area.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (20)

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The Secaucus store made an overall better first impression with its more open floor plan and the grocery section. Walmart Supercenter wins this round.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (21)

The grocery section in Secaucus was sprawling. There were the bakery and deli sections lining the perimeter ...

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (22)

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... and fresh produce in the center of the floor and also lining a wall behind.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (23)

Although, the produce didn't all look to be high quality.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (24)

Source: Business Insider

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Behind all the produce was a counter with prepared foods, which mostly consisted of chicken and fried appetizers.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (25)

Then we rounded the corner and saw all the meat lining the walls ...

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (26)

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... which was opposite aisles and aisles of frozen and refrigerated foods.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (27)

The cases held goodies like ice cream and pancakes, but also frozen dinners and lots of chicken nuggets.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (28)

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When it came to dry goods, the supercenter also had a great selection. From condiments to snacks, noodles to cereal, there was no shortage of food to choose from.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (29)

While the discount store we checked out in Norwalk does sell a lot of food, none of it was ready-made like in the New Jersey supercenter. This was a big factor that led us to decide the discount store is probably not meant to be used as a supermarket.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (30)

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Instead of fresh or ready-made food, all of the food at the discount store was pre-packaged, and most of it lived outside the realm of refrigeration.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (31)

Instead of bakery displays, we saw walls and walls of cookies — which the supercenter also had — to fulfill your sugar cravings ...

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (32)

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... and an island dedicated to barrels of utz Cheddar Cheese Balls. The supercenter in Secaucus also had islands of featured products across the store.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (33)

When it came to the refrigerated and frozen sections in Norwalk, we saw only two separate refrigerated cases. The case pictured here had a few bags of frozen fish and an array of frozen meals.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (34)

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Just around the aisle corner were varieties of frozen potatoes ...

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (35)

... frozen bread, and some frozen dessert like the Monkey Bread, seen here next to boxes of breadsticks and Texas toast.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (36)

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The Walmart Supercenter was the clear winner when it came to food overall.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (37)

At both Walmart stores, it was nearly impossible to ignore the abundance of cereal. Just looking at it all immediately brought us back to our childhood.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (38)

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There were the colorful sugary classics ...

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (39)

... and organic versions of more well-known cereal brands. These Cocoa Bunnies and peanut butter, chocolate Cheerios looked like the healthier alternative to Cocoa Puffs and Reese's Puffs.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (40)

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Both stores also offered family sized boxes of different cereals ...

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (41)

... as well as options made by Walmart's brand, Great Value. The cereal category was a tie.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (42)

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The Walmart Discount Store in Norwalk did have an impressive soft drink aisle.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (43)

There was certainly a large variety of brands, flavors, and sizes.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (44)

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But the sheer size of the supercenter's soft drink section earned the larger store another win.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (45)

Next to the soft drinks in Secaucus was a refrigerated wall filled with milk, eggs, juice, whipped cream, and other similar products.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (46)

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Continuing down the sole refrigerated aisle in the discount store — next to the frozen bread — we found yogurt and a few other dairy products, varieties of butter and butter substitutes, creamers, and cartons of already-beaten eggs. There was also milk and shelled eggs both sporting the "Great Value" label.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (47)

The supercenter definitely won this category, which we dubbed the "breakfast essentials" round.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (48)

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Both Walmarts offered a lot more than just food, too. We visited the discount store in March, a little more than a month before Easter. The myriad of egg buckets shown here was just the tip of the festive iceberg.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (49)

The Norwalk location had a number of other walls of decorations around the store like the one seen here.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (50)

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We visited the supercenter in May, just weeks before Memorial Day. While the bakery had plenty of red white and blue themed desserts ...

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (51)

... the store also had a few walls of decorations. This category was a tie considering the discount store had more decorations, but the supercenter offered themed food.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (52)

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When it came to home decor, both stores had a lot to offer. There were aisles of furniture, mirrors, room accessories, carpets, and desk chairs.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (53)

They also both had plenty of toys and sports equipment on offer.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (54)

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But the supercenter just seemed to have a larger quantity of everything, especially bikes. So if you're looking to have lots of toy and equipment options to choose from, the supercenter would be your best bet.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (55)

After walking around both stores, we thought the discount store had a better clothing section. It had an entire wall of women's jeans on offer, which we didn't see at the supercenter. We also thought the discount store's clothing section was also easier to navigate than the one in the supercenter because the sections were more clearly marked and had a more open floorplan. The smaller store won this category.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (56)

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While both stores had outdoor furniture for sale, the discount store in Norwalk had an entire outdoor garden section that was built in a greenhouse-type room.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (57)

The Secaucus supercenter was selling the furniture in the main store. We thought the Norwalk store's section created a much better shopping experience, so it won this round as well.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (58)

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Other areas like the newsstands at checkout, heavy promotion of the company's famous "Every Day Low Prices," pharmacy, tech and entertainment, and cleaning supplies were all evenly comparable between the two stores. While the supercenter sometimes had more variety in terms of brands available, discount store shoppers certainly still had plenty of options to choose from.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (59)

In terms of the overall shopping experience, we thought the supercenter in Secaucus was more pleasant. The discount store in Norwalk seemed a bit neglected. The shelves gave us more of a warehouse feel, and the things in the entry —like the key machine and games — looked like they were in limbo.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (60)

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The supercenter we went to looked more polished and thought out — like there was a method to the mega-store madness. So if you have the choice between doing your shopping at a supercenter or a discount store, we think the supercenter is your best bet for a one-stop shopping trip.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (61)

That being said, the amount of variety at the supercenter did seem a little excessive. While choices can be good — there's seemingly something for everyone — they can also be overwhelming. Studies have shown too many choices can be "paralyzing" for some people, The New York Times reported.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (62)

Source: The New York Times

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So for any indecisive shoppers who aren't looking for groceries, we think it's possible to get just about everything you need at the discount store without having to spend time staring at heavily stocked shelves.

We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (63)

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We compared Walmart's Supercenters to its Discount stores, and the former is light years better when it comes to food options (2024)
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