As you know, I love maps and even more I love imposing data onto maps.
So here is another interesting visualization of the growth of Walmart across the US:
It’s surprising how slowly the stores expanded from the mid-west. You can actually see the stores forming a dense cluster around the first few stores and gradually take over the country.
I wonder how Walmart’s growth pattern is different from other national retailers. I would imagine that unlike Walmart, some retailers first set up stores in major cities like New York or Los Angeles and then slowly increase density by moving into smaller and smaller markets.
And I wonder if there is a theory or a model around what’s is the more effective way to conquer the US market: to saturate a local region first, and then to expand (as Walmart seems to have done) or to establish sparse presence in major cities first and then add density?
