Wal-Mart drops a store

There won’t be two Wal-Mart “supercenters” in Chico after all. The mega-retailer informed the city Monday that it was officially withdrawing its application to build a new store in north Chico, near the intersection of Highway 99 and Garner Lane.

The change of heart came late in the process. The company has spent four years and mega-bucks on the project, but has been going through a restructuring and format modification in recent months and is cutting back on the number of supercenters it plans to build.

Chico Senior Planner Zach Thomas said there “is always the potential [of withdrawal] with any big project,” but “they’re generally not withdrawn this late.”

Wal-Mart continues to pursue conversion of its existing Forest Avenue store into a supercenter. The city Planning Commission will consider the proposal at its April 3 meeting.