Wal-Mart Plans Big Expansion in California : Retailing: The discount chain will open 50 to 100 stores in the state over the next five years, promising more woe for Kmart.

Wal-Mart will rapidly expand in California by opening 50 to 100 stores over the next five years, including many in Los Angeles and Orange counties, a top executive said Tuesday. The move is likely to greatly boost competition among the state’s discounters.

Wal-Mart Vice Chairman Donald Soderquist said California, home to only 79 of the retailer’s 2,157 U.S. stores, is now a key focus for the retailer’s expansion plans.

“Over the next five years, we plan to open more stores in California than any other state. That is a sign of our confidence in your economy,” said Soderquist, who disclosed details of the expansion plan following a Los Angeles address to Town Hall, a public issues forum.

The expansion by Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer and known for its sharp price discounting, is likely to put pressure on Target and Kmart, Wal-Mart’s primary competitors in California and the nation.

Kmart has been losing ground to Wal-Mart in recent years. Faced with declining earnings, it recently replaced its chief executive in a bid to become more competitive. Target, a unit of Dayton Hudson Corp., has more than 100 stores in California; Kmart has about 200 in the state.

“The last thing Kmart needs in California is another competitor,” said Richard Giss, a Los Angeles-based partner in the retail services division of accounting firm Deloitte & Touche. “Target is well-entrenched but Kmart is struggling and doing all it can to compete. This will be good for the consumer because Wal-Mart changes the competitive landscape when it expands in an area.”

Soderquist said many of the new stores will be in Los Angeles and Orange counties but said he could not be more specific. Wal-Mart has no stores in the city of Los Angeles but is searching for sites, Soderquist said.

Wal-Mart is a late arrival in California, having opened its first store in 1990.

The company has opened four stores in the state this year and will open nine others, three in Northern California and six in the Southland--in Pomona, City of Industry, Duarte, Laguna Niguel, San Diego and Chula Vista.

Soderquist noted some of the state’s recent economic setbacks, including the recent decision by the federal government to close the Long Beach Naval Shipyard and McClellan Air Force Base near Sacramento.

“However, you have a tremendous population base here and Wal-Mart’s [California] stores have shown strong sales volume in spite of the struggling economy,” he said.

Commenting on other expansion plans, Soderquist said Wal-Mart aims to be a retail leader in South America. The company opened its first store in Brazil last spring and will soon open its first in Argentina. It will have four stores in Argentina and six in Brazil by the end of the year, Soderquist said.

Wal-Mart will become the first U.S. retail chain to operate in China when it opens two stores there later this year, Soderquist said.