Report: Wal-Mart set to start building first Express stores next week

New York — Walmart will next week start building its first smaller-format Express stores, according to building permits obtained by Bloomberg News.

The chain will begin construction March 16 on a 14,400-sq.-ft. store in Gentry, Ark., which is about 20 miles from the company’s Bentonville headquarters, according to the permits.

Work on similar stores in nearby Prairie Grove and Gravettealsowill start over the next two weeks, the report said.