Big-box store

A big-box store, a hyperstore, a supercenter, a superstore, or a megastore is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a <a href="/facts/Chain_store/GmMjjARU">chain</a> of stores. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store. The term "big-box" references the typical appearance of buildings occupied by such stores.
Commercially, big-box stores can be broken down into two categories: general <a href="/facts/Merchandising/1bqc9qV0">merchandise</a> (examples include <a href="/facts/Walmart/E6dPQV2m">Walmart</a> and <a href="/facts/Target_Corporation/p7mDo1mv">Target</a>) and specialty stores (such as <a href="/facts/Home_Depot/Sw9HsorI">Home Depot</a>, <a href="/facts/Barnes_%2526_Noble/IIcN2meE">Barnes & Noble</a>, <a href="/facts/IKEA/qeEoe5Bl">IKEA</a> or <a href="/facts/Best_Buy/NvjEUzoL">Best Buy</a>), which specialize in goods within a specific range, such as <a href="/facts/Hardware_store/Yex6IaFr">hardware</a>, <a href="/facts/Book/Yylgt4AC">books</a>, <a href="/facts/Furniture/J7JrsrlA">furniture</a> or <a href="/facts/Consumer_electronics/cJ8g9NXh">consumer electronics</a>, respectively. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, many traditional retailers and supermarket chains that typically operate in smaller buildings, such as <a href="/facts/Tesco/Xjn7VFmo">Tesco</a> and <a href="/facts/Praktiker/Ip72SRtr">Praktiker</a> (the latter which is defunct since 2014), opened stores in the big-box-store format in an effort to compete with big-box chains, which are expanding internationally as their home markets reach maturity.
The store may sell general <a href="/facts/Dry_goods/B7z0jonA">dry goods</a>, in which case it is a general merchandise retailer (however, traditional <a href="/facts/Department_store/1W8nv8ub">department stores</a>, as the predecessor format, are generally not classified as "big box"), or may be limited to a particular specialty (such establishments are often called "<a href="/facts/Category_killer/rVDk2XHS">category killers</a>"), or may also sell groceries, in which case some countries (mostly in <a href="/facts/Europe/DTAtrKfh">Europe</a>) use the term <a href="/facts/Hypermarket/FxyqrXu5">hypermarket</a>. In the U.S., there is no specific term for general merchandisers who also sell groceries. Both Target and Walmart offer groceries in most branches in the U.S.
Big-box stores are often clustered in shopping centers, which are typically called <a href="/facts/Retail_park/pVuj4jpk">retail parks</a> in the United Kingdom. In the United States, when they range in size from 250,000 square feet (23,000 m2) to 600,000 square feet (56,000 m2), they are often referred to as <a href="/facts/Power_center_(retail)/1Wpkm3YK">power centers</a>.

Big-box store open-in-new

Big-box store