While Americans are buying trash bags and Great Value soda at Walmart, Walmart is buying…malls.

The big-box colossus just snagged a Norwalk, CT, retail plaza for $44.5 million, beating out a “substantial” amount of interest in the space by laying out the juiciest offer, according to Jeff Kintzer, a principal at Royal Properties, which represented the seller.

A Walmart store anchors the shopping center, so the chain moving from lessee to owner doesn’t inspire much intrigue by itself. As the New York Times reported, Walmart already owns most of its locations. But the deal is part of an emerging pattern:

In May, Walmart bought another shopping center in Bethel Park, PA, where it was also the anchor tenant.
Perhaps most interestingly, Walmart bought a different Pennsylvania mall in January—where it had no retail presence.

Monroeville Mall (Walmart’s Version)

Walmart purchased the Monroeville Mall in Western Pennsylvania for $34 million. Perhaps coincidentally, it wanted a store in the town of Monroeville 20 years ago, but got denied by local authorities. In what might be a revenge move a la Taylor Swift, Walmart buying the mall can clear the pathway into the market far more easily than getting approvals and building a site from scratch.

The chain has not commented on its plans in Monroeville, but it applied for a $7.5 million redevelopment grant from the state of Pennsylvania to support the “full demolition” of the mall and to build new retail, restaurant, and entertainment venues.

What in the (Wally) world? In 2018, Walmart publicly announced a plan to reimagine spaces around its stores as “town centers” that could include local food vendors, gyms, and recreation centers. The Monroeville acquisition might be part of that. Who among us is not a little behind on our New Year’s resolutions?—HVL

This report was originally published by Morning Brew.

Walmart has spent more than $110 million buying malls this year in a move to become a property owner, not just a tenant