Wal-Mart to shut its Neighborhood Market in Niskayuna

PHOTOGRAPHER: Marc Schultz

The Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market in Niskayuna.

NISKAYUNA — Three and a half years after it opened, the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market on State Street is getting ready to shut down.

Company spokesman Phillip Keene announced the plan Monday and said the reasons included an inability to generate sufficient profit.

“It’s based on a number of factors, including financial performance,” he said.

The last day will be no later than June 9. Clearance sales will begin within the week, and if inventory is reduced beyond a viable level, the store will close sooner, perhaps in late May. The pharmacy will remain open at least until May 30, even if other retail operations cease before the official closing.

The decision does not reflect poorly on the roughly 100 people who work there, Keene said, and they will be able to seek employment at other Wal-Mart stores.

“We’re optimistic any associate that wants to continue their career with the company will be able to do so,” he said.

There are three full-sized Wal-Mart stores within a few miles of the downsized market in Niskayuna.

The 40,000-square-foot store at 3429 State St. opened its doors in November 2013, the latest arrival in an area already saturated with supermarkets. A Price Chopper and a Target with a grocery department sit right across Balltown Road; a Hannaford and a Shoprite are directly north on Balltown Road; the Niskayuna Co-Op is right off Balltown Road; and there are Aldi supermarkets one mile west and three miles east on State Street/Central Avenue.

A spokesman in 2013 told The Daily Gazette that the company wasn’t daunted by the crowded field — it welcomed the competition and said it only makes Wal-Mart better.

The Neighborhood Market sits in the Mansion Square shopping plaza, which is owned by Highbridge Development. It is by far the largest retailer in the plaza, which is named for the large historic home that in later years became part of the Ingersoll residence for senior citizens. When the senior home was moved to a new campus on Consaul Road, the former campus was converted to the shopping plaza. The mansion itself was lifted off its foundation and moved across the lot. It was later moved again and converted into a bank.

Keene said the retail giant remains committed to its Neighborhood Market model, designed to be quicker and more convenient than the massive Supercenter format. There are now several hundred locations, he said.

Wal-Mart has a large presence in New York, with more than 110 Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club locations, including three near the soon-to-be-shuttered Neighborhood Market. Others are in Albany, Glenville and Rotterdam. In 2016, the retail giant opened two new stores and remodeled six statewide. It also opened an employee training facility in Batavia. It plans to remodel 12 New York stores this year.

Keene said the company has notified the Niskayuna store’s employees and the town of its decision to close.

A manager at Highbridge did not respond to a request for comment for this story.