Walmart Plans to Open A 'Neighborhood Market' In Altadena, Too

Altadena will be one in the latest string of communities that will be getting a "neighborhood" Walmart soon.

The company will be opening up a "Neighborhood Market" at the vacant lot that once housed a supermarket at the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Figueroa Drive, according to altadenablog and Altadena Patch. There will be a pharmacy, as well as a full-service grocery store.

The site will be 28,200 square feet, which is substantially smaller than a full-service Walmart—and even smaller than other Walmart grocery stores. (The grocery store slated to open in Chinatown is 33,000 square feet or the 31,000 square feet one that will open in Panorama City.) Walmart told Altadena Patch it plans to open up the store in Altadena in January 2013.

The comments on local Altadena blogs altadenablog and Altadena Patch have been mostly negative and they echo the same comments that you hear when Walmarts open in other communities. Community members are worried it will run the local mom-and-pop shops out of business, and others are worried about labor conditions. Others said they're happy to see a business move into that vacant lot.

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An unofficial poll asked readers whether they'd consider shopping at a Walmart, and 59 percent said they wouldn't while 26 percent said they would. (Then again, we're guessing the vast majority of people who will end up shopping at these stores are not getting fired up about it and reading up on the local permit process.)

Big box stores have been shrinking to move into urban areas or other areas like Altadena where the chain hasn't made inroads.