New Wal-Mart serves ethnic community

[fultonCoShooter]

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll.../BIZ/803040358


New Wal-Mart serves ethnic community
Dearborn store caters to Arab, Hispanic shoppers
Nathan Hurst / The Detroit News

DEARBORN -- The exterior of the hulking big-box housing Wal-Mart's newest Supercenter on Mercury Drive is rather unremarkable, given a sense of place only by the big blue oval beaming off the Ford Motor Co. offices nearby.

But inside the 200,000-square-foot store, the traditionally cookie-cutter feel of Wal-Mart has gone decidedly Dearborn.

It's a store where akawi cheese and achiote paste are just as visible as Hannah Montana T-shirts, 30-pound bags of dog food and discounted 12-packs of underwear.

The new Dearborn store, which opens Wednesday, will be the first Wal-Mart store in the nation to take the retailer's new strategy of creating community stores to such an extreme. The store will offer hundreds of products catering specifically to two of the diverse populations it will serve -- Arab Americans and Hispanic Americans.

The store is set right in the middle of the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the country, numbering 150,000 strong, and is right next door to Detroit's growing Hispanic community.

"We've done a lot of research over the past two years and we realized that to make this work, we needed to cater to clientele," said store manager Bill Bartell as he supervised hundreds of employees Monday as they stuffed shelves full of new products. "This is one place we can't just do the same old thing."

Bartell, with Wal-Mart since 1985, said the idea to customize the Dearborn store was hatched two years ago, when the company acquired the former Kmart Super Center site near the intersection of Ford Road and the Southfield Freeway.

As the company began researching the area, it quickly became clear that a traditional Supercenter's product line wouldn't serve the needs of the surrounding community, Bartell said.

So after consulting with local shoppers and organizations such as the Arab-American Chamber of Commerce, Bartell received the corporate go-ahead to make the new Wal-Mart location more appealing to its diverse customer base.

The result is a big-box store that's stepping out of the box, starting with a welcome sign that greets customers in 11 different languages.

The produce section has been expanded to make room for fruits and vegetables unfamiliar to many American households, but that are staples in Arab-American and Hispanic kitchens throughout Metro Detroit.

In the meat case, Muslim shoppers can find certified Halal meats in a case separated from other meats, as required by Islamic law. Two long stretches of shelves house dry goods from countries such as Egypt and Lebanon, Guatemala and Mexico, all alongside more familiar American offerings like canned ravioli and blocks of Velveeta.

Next to greeting cards in English are those in Spanish, and others recognizing Islamic holidays.

David Livingston, a grocery industry analyst in Pewaukee, Wis., said Wal-Mart's Dearborn-focused Supercenter is a trend consumers can expect to spread nationwide.

"Right now, it's a very unique thing they're doing in Dearborn," Livingston said. "But they're still doing what any smart retailer would do: appeal to customers with what they want to buy."

Livingston said a number of other grocery chains operating in the U.S. have taken a similar approach, including Kroger, which carries Halal meats in many locations, and Tesco and Publix, which have had success in catering to Hispanic consumers along the Mexican border.
'Smarter growth strategies'

Jeff Stoltman, a professor of marketing at Wayne State University, said Wal-Mart has developed "smarter growth strategies," instead of simply expanding with a centralized approach.

"Wal-Mart's been experiencing a slowdown in its growth recently, and they're now going at it a different way," Stoltman said.

"They're abandoning that cookie-cutter model and making things more localized, and it's smart," he said.

In the new Dearborn store, locally produced items are being marked with signs declaring the merchandise's Michigan roots. Bartell said some of those items include foods targeted at Arab-American consumers from local vendors, including Tut's International, a Dearborn-based exporter, and the New Yasmeen Bakery.

Those selections are expected to expand as the store's managers get feedback from customers on what other local products they'd like to see, Bartell said.

"It's a totally flexible thing," he said. "We're here to adapt."

You can reach Nathan Hurst at (313) 222-2293 or nhurst@detnews.com.

[Azzy]

No problem with targeting the shoppers who are in the area with products they would likely buy, but the multi language thing really irks me.

[Zef_66]

Stores are going to sell products to customers who buy them. If in that area happens to be people not like myself, then so be it. Its business. But also a good reason why I wouldn't want to live there.

[knight0334]

So when they gonna open a redneck ethnic store near me??

Guns, ammo, alcohol, tobacco, truck parts, wine/beer/spirits production equipment?

[mikepro8]

The melting pot doenst exist anymore.... that would be forcing someone to "give up their heritage." (and other P.C. nonsense)

[MTechnik]

The melting pot doenst exist anymore.... that would be forcing someone to "give up their heritage." (and other P.C. nonsense)

The better quote I've heard is 'salad mixing bowl' rather than 'melting pot'

[Jared McLaughlin]

I think this is a sign of the strength of our system. We don't have to force people to adapt their practices to our new immigrants, the force of the market causes adaptation. I hope it makes Walmart that much richer.

Having said that, I think we need to have equal freedom to open stores that are english only, if we so desire. The government should enforce english-only in their dealings, but business should be free to go with the market and the prefference of the owners.

[DCChris]

SSSHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! If you listen really closely......you can hear Sam Walton spinning in his grave.....WWHHHIIIIZZZZ!!!!!!!!!

[mikepro8]

Having said that, I think we need to have equal freedom to open stores that are english only, if we so desire. The government should enforce english-only in their dealings, but business should be free to go with the market and the prefference of the owners.

I have been saying for years there needs to be a united caucasian college fund, but that would be racist. could you imagine the backlash? God forbid. United pacific islander college fund, united eastern european college fund, etc. etc.

I like the salad bowl, I use the term "stew" instead. some mixing, some not.

[phillyshooter]

Note to self:

Don't open carry in that Walmart during Ramadan