Wal-Mart market coming to south Fort Myers

A Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market is moving into south Fort Myers.

A Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market in south Fort Myers will be opening in the winter of 2008 near the corner of McGregor Boulevard and College Parkway.

The 40,033-square foot store is being remodeled from an old retail store into a Wal-Mart food store.

“There was an existing facility there but it was very dark,” said Michelle Azel, the senior manager of public affairs for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. about the project.

“The existing shells of a former grocery store serve this purpose really well. They fit what we do in a neighborhood market.”

The market will join the existing 16 stores of its kind in Florida, including a new one that opened in Cape Coral a few months ago.

“Its predominately a grocery-only store similar to a Winn-Dixie or a Publix but we do have a lot of items,” said Azel about the inventory that boasts a product mix of 29,000 items. “The markets are smaller and don’t have general merchandise.”

Giving customers an alternate way to get their Wal-Mart groceries is why the market is going up, Azel said.

“People want convenience, they want options and we provide our everyday low prices,” she said about the market that will have competition from a neighboring Publix Super Market. “We save people money so they can live better.”