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Hypermart USA was a demonstrator project operated by Wal-Mart in the 1980s and 1990s, which attempted to combine groceries and general merchandise under one roof at a substantial discount. The hypermart concept was modeled after earlier efforts from other retailers, notably French retailer Carrefour, and the Midwestern US retailer Meijer. The Texas stores were operated in partnerships with Cullum Companies, former owner of Tom Thumb supermarkets. All stores used a floorplan that exceeded . They featured a mini-mall, food court, arcade, bank, and other kiosk operations. The ones in Kansas City and Topeka featured McDonald's, Subway, and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen in their food courts.〔http://supermarketnews.com/archive/2nd-popeyes-opens-wal-mart-hypermarket〕 == History == The prototype did not go as well as planned. Wal-Mart was unaccustomed to operating such massive stores, and an economic recession had brought on a decline in retail sales. Although the stores were profitable, sales projections were too optimistic and the company did not anticipate the massive heating and cooling costs, the resistance of customers towards parking and congestion issues. The first Wal-Mart Supercenter, which used a floorplan in the range, was opened in 1988 in Washington, Missouri.〔http://www.walmart50.com/50/mobile/heritage/timeline.aspx〕 As the Supercenter proved to be a much more profitable experiment, Wal-Mart renamed the stores "Wal-Mart's Hypermart USA" in April 1990, and eventually began either converting them to Supercenter operations or closing them. The Hypermart USA concept was officially discontinued in 2000, when Wal-Mart announced it was converting the Kansas City Hypermart USA into a Wal-Mart Supercenter.〔http://cjonline.com/stories/052300/bus_walmart.shtml〕 The former Kansas City store, then a Supercenter, ultimately closed in January 2007. The original Hypermart in Garland, Texas closed in May 2008, and was replaced by Wal-Mart's first "Hispanic Community" store a few blocks away. The Topeka, Kansas hypermarket, located on Southwest Wanamaker Road, is still open, although its exterior has been remodeled as well as the Arlington, Texas location on S Cooper Street. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hypermart USA」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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