Retail box trends to smaller SF

FORT WORTH – Bigger is not always better. Around the country, some retail chains are cutting back on their store size. Industry analysts say it is a national trend as retailers look to curtail costs while trying to compete with online rivals.

Evidence of the trend can be seen in Fort Worth. Office Depot is relocating its 30,000-sf Eastchase Market store to a 18,000-sf space within the same shopping center. Last year, Office Depot relocated a 25,000-sf store to 18,000 sf at a shopping center at Hulen St. and Loop 820.

Experts say showrooming, when shoppers check out merchandise and prices at a store, then browse the Internet to find a lower price, is a major factor when business consider downsizing.

Even Walmart is using smaller formats like its Neighborhood Market to fill geographic gaps or cater to people making quick purchases. Some of the newest stores in Tarrant County have been 38,000 sf, others 58,000 sf — a fraction of the Supercenter format, which can reach 250,000 sf.

Other examples include Best Buy Mobile, which is a fraction of the size of its big-box sibling and focuses on cellphones. Dick’s Sporting Goods has tried True Runner, and Toys R Us has Holiday Express.

Big-box stores do still exist — Fort Worth is still getting Kroger Marketplace stores at 120,000 sf and Golf Galaxy has taken 65,000 sf from a former Albertsons supermarket at 2100 W. Northwest Hwy. in Grapevine.