{"686315":{"#nid":"686315","#data":{"type":"news","title":"The \u2018Supercenter\u2019 Effect: How Massive, One-Stop Retailers Fuel Overconsumption \u2212 and\u00a0Waste","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv class=\u0022theconversation-article-body\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EImagine walking out of a Walmart, Target or Costco. As you push your large shopping cart to your car, you ask yourself: Did I really need all that stuff?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe answer is you probably didn\u2019t.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ideas.repec.org\/a\/inm\/ormsom\/v27y2025i5p1604-1624.html\u0022\u003Erecent study\u003C\/a\u003E, my co-authors \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/directory.smeal.psu.edu\/lkw5428\u0022\u003ELina Wang\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gsb.snu.ac.kr\/en\/faculty?major=3\u0026amp;idx=2903\u0022\u003ESungho Park\u003C\/a\u003E and I found that the presence of supercenters \u2013 large retailers that sell groceries alongside general merchandise \u2013 results in a significant uptick in consumer waste due to overpurchasing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThese supercenters often sit on lots in excess of 150,000 square feet. But figuring out how all that real estate affects people\u2019s shopping habits \u2013 if it does at all \u2013 is tricky. That\u2019s because a lot of factors influence how much people buy on a single shopping trip.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo answer this question, we looked at the impact of the spread of Walmart supercenters across the U.S. over a decade, using a technique called \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.publichealth.columbia.edu\/research\/population-health-methods\/difference-difference-estimation\u0022\u003Edifference-in-differences\u003C\/a\u003E \u2013 an analytical method in which we compared consumer waste trends in counties that saw supercenter launches with \u201cmatched\u201d counties that did not. This matching ensured that counties were otherwise closely comparable on socioeconomic factors such as housing, income and education.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOur analysis showed that the launch of a supercenter results in an increase in consumer waste of up to 7%. Furthermore, this increase in consumer waste is larger for new supercenter openings compared with conversions, when existing regular stores are expanded into large-format ones.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EWhy it Matters\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor decades, neighborhood stores across the U.S. were edged out by large-format retailers: department stores, supercenters and shopping malls. Although there is evidence that many of these big-name retailers are \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/operations\/retailers-like-target-and-nordstrom-are-rethinking-their-approach-to-small-format-stores\/\u0022\u003Ebeginning to look toward smaller stores\u003C\/a\u003E, the shopping landscape remains dotted by supercenters.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd these large stores stimulate mass consumption through gradual shifts in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/pubsonline.informs.org\/doi\/abs\/10.1287\/mnsc.2014.2143\u0022\u003Econsumer behaviors\u003C\/a\u003E. For example, in their attempt to generate more sales, large-format retailers often underprice smaller neighborhood stores.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETake, for example, Walmart\u2019s \u201c\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.intelligencenode.com\/blog\/walmart-edlp-everyday-low-pricing-strategy\/\u0022\u003Eeveryday low price\u201d strategy\u003C\/a\u003E, which is key to its business model. This pricing strategy offers shoppers a largely consistent year-round low price rather than relying on occasional sales and discounts.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFurther contributing to overpurchasing is the supercenters\u2019 typical location, which tends to be away from residential areas. Naturally, in their effort to avoid multiple trips, consumers tend to maximize the utility of each visit by making their basket sizes larger.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUnfortunately, this overpurchasing often leads to waste as more goods reach expiration date or sit unused in people\u2019s homes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile this may be a profitable strategy for retailers, it\u2019s bad for society and the environment and creates billions of dollars in waste. To put this into context, the United States generates close to \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling\/guide-facts-and-figures-report-about\u0022\u003E300 million tons of consumer waste every year\u003C\/a\u003E, and then spends \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cbcny.org\/research\/12-things-new-yorkers-should-know-about-their-garbage\u0022\u003Ebillions of dollars\u003C\/a\u003E managing this waste.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EWhat Still Isn\u2019t Known\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENow that we have measured the \u201csupercenter effect,\u201d we are keen to look at potential solutions to this problem. Some existing solutions are based on implementing policies that encourage behavioral shifts in consumers. For example, many cities have adopted a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/theconversation.com\/what-is-pay-as-you-throw-a-waste-expert-explains-173828\u0022\u003Epay-as-you-throw policy\u003C\/a\u003E that charges people based on the volume of waste generated.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOther solutions are more structural, such as bringing back neighborhood convenience stores and developing stronger circular economy channels. For example, neighborhood convenience stores can play an important role in mitigating the supercenter effect and could allow for smaller, more frequent shopping trips and significantly less waste.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn many cities, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nlc.org\/article\/2025\/05\/01\/how-cities-can-spark-economic-transformation-through-entrepreneur-led-economic-development\u0022\u003Einitiatives promoting local\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.urban.org\/urban-wire\/local-and-solidarity-economies-are-helping-some-regions-balance-economic-competitiveness\u0022\u003Evendors and stores\u003C\/a\u003E are gaining momentum. Such solutions would not only encourage sustainable consumption but also have benefits for local economic growth by promoting small businesses that have historically \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sbecouncil.org\/about-us\/facts-and-data\/\u0022\u003Eaccounted for 62%\u003C\/a\u003E of net new job creation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA second solution entails leveraging the \u201creuse economy,\u201d which can provide a back-end channel for circulating surplus and used goods. While both offline and online reuse channels exist \u2013 through the likes of thrift stores, food banks and Facebook Marketplace, for example \u2013 they currently remain vastly underused.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIdentifying and aggressively implementing such solutions might turn out to be both economically meaningful and environmentally beneficial. But more work needs to be done to figure out which solutions are more effective, and why.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/theconversation.com\/us\/topics\/research-brief-83231\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EResearch Brief\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E is a short take on interesting academic work.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C!-- Below is The Conversation\u0027s page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --\u003E\u003Cimg style=\u0022border-color:!important;border-style:none;box-shadow:none !important;margin:0 !important;max-height:1px !important;max-width:1px !important;min-height:1px !important;min-width:1px !important;opacity:0 !important;outline:none !important;padding:0 !important;\u0022 src=\u0022https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/267939\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\u0022 alt=\u0022The Conversation\u0022 width=\u00221\u0022 height=\u00221\u0022 referrerpolicy=\u0022no-referrer-when-downgrade\u0022\u003E\u003C!-- End of code. If you don\u0027t see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/republishing-guidelines --\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis article is republished from \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/theconversation.com\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe Conversation\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E under a Creative Commons license. Read the \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/theconversation.com\/the-supercenter-effect-how-massive-one-stop-retailers-fuel-overconsumption-and-waste-267939\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003Eoriginal article\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"full_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA recent study found that the presence of supercenters \u2013 large retailers that sell groceries alongside general merchandise \u2013 results in a significant uptick in consumer waste due to overpurchasing.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A recent study found that the presence of supercenters \u2013 large retailers that sell groceries alongside general merchandise \u2013 results in a significant uptick in consumer waste due to overpurchasing."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2025-11-10 16:41:40","changed_gmt":"2025-11-10 16:46:21","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-11-10T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2025-11-10T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"678586":{"id":"678586","type":"image","title":"\u2018Big-box\u2019 supercenters can contribute to overpurchasing by shoppers. Frederic J. Brown\/AFP via Getty Images","body":"\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Big-box\u2019 supercenters can contribute to overpurchasing by shoppers. \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/news-photo\/woman-walks-past-a-shopping-cart-in-the-parking-lot-of-a-news-photo\/1145742881?adppopup=tru\u0022\u003EFrederic J. Brown\/AFP via Getty Images\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1762793019","gmt_created":"2025-11-10 16:43:39","changed":"1762793019","gmt_changed":"2025-11-10 16:43:39","alt":"\u2018Big-box\u2019 supercenters can contribute to overpurchasing by shoppers. Frederic J. Brown\/AFP via Getty Images","file":{"fid":"262640","name":"file-20251105-64-p1m499.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/11\/10\/file-20251105-64-p1m499.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/11\/10\/file-20251105-64-p1m499.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":173627,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/11\/10\/file-20251105-64-p1m499.jpg?itok=B5LrckL9"}}},"media_ids":["678586"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/the-supercenter-effect-how-massive-one-stop-retailers-fuel-overconsumption-and-waste-267939","title":"Read This Article on The Conversation"}],"groups":[{"id":"658168","name":"Experts"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1274","name":"Scheller College of Business"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"106361","name":"Business and Economic Development"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Ch5\u003EAuthor:\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/suvrat-dhanorkar-579449\u0022\u003ESuvrat Dhanorkar\u003C\/a\u003E, Associate Professor, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/georgia-institute-of-technology-1310\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch5\u003EMedia Contact:\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShelley Wunder-Smith\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:shelley.wunder-smith@research.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eshelley.wunder-smith@research.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}