Specialty Grocers Will Hit the Gas While H-E-B and Walmart Push the Brakes

HEB and Walmart (NYSE:WMT) will slow down expansion in San Antonio to two andzero new locations, respectively, in the upcoming 2017 fiscal year. This change in the retail market will create for an opportunity where smaller, and ambitious specialty retailers such as Natural Grocers (NYSE:NGVC), now known as Mercado Del Pueblo, Aldi, Lidl, and Trader Joe’s may come in and expand their presence throughout the city. HEB is currently preparing to break into the Dallas market, reportedly having 23 sites at the ready to make for an impressionable debut in the city. Walmart on the other hand is undergoing a transition into becoming a technology and customer service centered company more to the likes of Amazon, who will be their biggest competitor within that arena.

H-E-B, Wal-Mart pump brakes on new SA locations, but specialty grocers will hit the gas