Walmart has partnered with Getaway — the online vacation booking company that builds tiny cabin “outpost” communities in remote destinations less than a two-hour drive from major metropolitan cities — in order to open a 75-s.f. mini-store within the Wimberley, Texas, Getaway outpost. Called The General Store by Walmart, the mini shop is meant to be a convenience store site for forgotten essentials, selling such items as Pendleton branded blankets, Burton Bee lip balm, disposable cameras, sunscreen, hiking-related merchandise and skillets. The store also carries locally branded souvenirs such as Austin-based Slow North soy wax candles or the Texas Hills Country Olive Oil, developed in Dripping Springs, Texas. Four more of these pilot mini- shops are expected at other Getaway outposts throughout the country by the end of 2022, in Running Springs, Calif., Osceola, Mo., Roscoe, N.Y., and Moodus, Conn. Each shop is expected to carry similar merchandise, in addition to unique gift items local to the specific area.
With the Getaway brand of tiny cabin “glamping” vacations trending with the urban millennial crowd, Walmart is hoping to gain a new audience of customers with these uniquely curated essential items shops. If popular, expect additional Getaway outpost locations to also have these mini-Walmart stores in the future. It is even conceivable that other big-box brands, such as Target, or even convenience store brands, such as 7-Eleven or Wawa, may also jump on this bandwagon and open their own mini versions of shops at other campsite spots in remote vacation destinations.
