Walmart surprises shoppers with bold new restaurant offering

Walking into Walmart utilized to mean being deed with the distinctive odor of McDonald's nutrient cooking. For some, that's a comforting smell, portion others find it retired of spot successful a section store and market chain.

That chiseled scent, however, has disappeared from galore Walmart Supercenters, arsenic McDonald's has greatly pulled backmost from determination restaurants wrong Walmart stores.

McDonald's closed astir 200 stores successful 2020, and astir fractional of those were located wrong Walmarts.

“The U.S. is accelerating immoderate edifice closings antecedently planned for aboriginal years,” erstwhile McDonald's Chief Financial Officer Kevin Ozan said during the chain's second-quarter 2020 net call. “Of the 200 U.S. closures for this year, implicit fractional are low-volume restaurants successful Walmart store locations.”

Since then, the Golden Arches' beingness wrong Walmart has continued to dwindle.

"While the McDonald’s wrong your section Walmart whitethorn beryllium shuttered, you tin inactive find the fast-food associated successful prime Walmart stores. Out of the much than 1,000 restaurants that erstwhile resided successful Walmart stores, astir 150 of them are inactive unfastened for business," Reader's Digest reported.

Walmart has replaced McDonald's with a assortment of partners, including determination brands and Subway, but its latest edifice offering whitethorn astonishment adjacent longtime customers.

As a devoted instrumentality of sushi, Walmart whitethorn not beryllium the archetypal spot that comes to caput erstwhile I deliberation astir picking up caller sushi. Sushi astatine supermarket chains similar Publix and Whole Foods, successful my opinion, rates arsenic edible, but not great.

Walmart, however, wants to alteration people's cognition of its brand. Its latest Supercenter successful Jacksonville, Fla., which volition service arsenic a prototype for remodels and rebuilds, offers a sushi bar. The concatenation frames it arsenic being 1 of the "next-generation" experiences its caller stores volition offer.

"Interactive integer touchpoints that marque in-store buying easier, much efficient, and much connected. An expanded assortment including elevated manner brands, and robust market offerings including a bakery, deli, and caller sushi bar," the concatenation shared successful a property release.

Adding caller sushi could assistance Walmart reverse an borderline that smaller competitors person maintained.

“One of the large advantages that determination grocers person implicit radical similar Walmart, Target, and Costco is the caller prepared foods...They tin truly absorption connected having higher quality, due to the fact that they don’t ever person to play connected price,” John Clear, spouse astatine consulting steadfast AlixPartners, told Grocery Dive.

This is not Walmart's archetypal foray into sushi.

• Walmart opened a caller Supercenter with a caller sushi bar successful Jacksonville, Florida, portion of Walmart’s next‑gen store plan with expanded foodservice offerings, according to a property release.

• A sushi kiosk wrong a Grapevine, Texas, Walmart present serves sushi, poke, dumplings, and much via Mai Sushi successful concern with a third‑party operator, Community Collective reported, and Walmart shared connected its Facebook page.

• Walmart has offered grab‑and‑go sushi successful immoderate stores nether the Hissho connected the Go conception successful deli departments (e.g., Charlotte area), offering rolls specified arsenic California and spicy shrimp, according to Supermarket News.

• Pre‑packaged sushi options (Marketside brand) are wide disposable for acquisition online oregon successful stores arsenic ready‑to‑eat sushi, Walmart shared successful a property release.

• Walmart’s broader foodservice expansion includes blistery bars, grab‑and‑go, and in‑store restaurants arsenic portion of evolving market strategy, according to Grocery Dive.

Walmart has besides made sushi disposable astatine each its Sam's Club locations nether its Member's Mark location brand.

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"The modulation to Member’s Mark Sushi is astir much than rebranding. It’s a measurement guardant successful however Sam’s Club brings chef-crafted, regionally inspired, and member-driven products to life," Sam's Club shared successful a property release.

Sam's Club's Member’s Mark sushi is made caller daily, in-club, by trained chefs who unrecorded and enactment successful the communities they serve, according to the company.

Market probe estimates sushi edifice establishments successful the U.S. astatine astir 16,800 to 17,400 locations successful 2025, based connected manufacture analyses, according to IbisWorld data.

To enactment that fig into perspective, let's analyse 2 of the larger U.S. chains and their store counts.

In the Starbucks Q1 Fiscal Year 2026 net release, Starbucks reported having 16,911 company‑operated stores successful the U.S., but this lone includes company‑operated stores (not licensed ones), the java elephantine reported successful its first-quarter net report.

McDonald's astir caller published information showed that it had 13,557 restaurants astatine the extremity of 2024.

Sushi restaurants whitethorn beryllium comparatively constricted compared to different types of food, but sushi has go mainstream, with Kroger starring the way.

"The nation’s biggest grocery-store relation sells much than 40 cardinal pieces of sushi successful a emblematic year, successful the process helping crook slices of earthy fish, existent and imitation, and atom into an American user staple," the Wall Street Journal reported successful 2023.

Kroger said that sushi rolls person been a income operator for the chain, and information amusement that much Americans person been eating the Japanese staple.

"Sushi is large concern for tons of grocery-store operators, from giants similar Albertsons and Whole Foods Market to determination retailers specified arsenic California-based Good Food and North Carolina-based Fresh Market," the Journal reported. "Sales volumes of sushi sold astatine U.S. retailers are up much than 50% implicit the past 4 years, and dollar income are up astir 72%, according to Circana."

Walmart plans to physique and remodel a full of 150 Supercenter locations to lucifer the Jacksonville location.

Related: Costco adds 3 cardinal caller perks for members

This communicative was primitively published by TheStreet connected Feb 8, 2026, wherever it archetypal appeared successful the Retail section. Add TheStreet arsenic a Preferred Source by clicking here.