• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, October 13, 2010

Just as America has gotten used to Walmart's mammoth supercenters, the retailer says it plans to focus on smaller stores, as well, to better expand in U.S. urban markets.

At a presentation for investors in Rogers, Ark., Walmart executives laid out its growth plans for the next several years, which will include between 30 and 40 smaller stores in its fiscal 2012, as well as between 155 and 165 large stores. It also plans to add between 7 and 12 additional Sam's Clubs.

"Over the next few years, we will introduce new formats to help us enter new markets," Walmart U.S. President and CEO Bill Simon says in the company's release following the meeting. "Walmart U.S. will move toward a three-format portfolio, which will drive expansion to urban markets and small towns, as well as fill in gaps in existing markets."

"The large format is our supercenter, which sells a broad assortment of groceries and general merchandise. We have integrated efficiencies into our supercenter design that have allowed us to decrease the average square footage for our supercenter format. The medium format, between 30,000 and 60,000 square feet, will be based on the needs of an individual market. The small format, which is less than 30,000 square feet, will be targeted to urban markets and small towns."

The company says it plans to increase total square footage between 3 and 4% next fiscal year, while overall sales growth is forecast at between 4 and 6%. It will shift more capital toward new stores in the U.S., and is lowering the costs of its extensive remodeling through efficiencies.

CEO Mike Duke also told investors that the chain's core customers "are still under pressure. They are either directly impacted by unemployment in their family, or there is a fear element of unemployment that is still there. The level of consumer confidence is not there." As a result, he says, its customers continue to be on a tighter budget.

He also conceded that in its latest attempts to roll back prices and reduce inventories, it went too far, and it will have to work to win back sales and customers.

Separately, the company announced that it is expanding its test two new programs for the upcoming holidays, including a "Pick Up Today" service, which lets customers order online and receive free same-day pickup at a local Walmart store, which will roll out to 800 stores. And it is also enlarging its test of "FedEx Site to Store" to include additional locations in New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Washington, D.C.