Dive Brief:

• Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced Thursday that it will add twice as many small Neighborhood Market and Walmart Express stores as it originally planned. The company will add as many as 300 smaller stores along with a planned 115 supercenters nationwide. 

• The company noted changing consumer needs and tastes in its announcement, saying that its pilot program with small format stores had found success.

• The move is similar to one by Target Corp., which is piloting smaller Target Express stores in urban areas.

Dive Insight:

The moves by the mega-retailers Wal-Mart Stores and Target show the changing demographics of the American consumer — more urban and less likely to drive to get what they need from big chains. The experiment for Wal-Mart has gone well, these plans show, but it remains to be seen whether the change in the Wal-Mart landscape will actually boost​ the company's sagging sales much.