Walmart said on July 25 that it plans to open two of its smaller Neighborhood Market grocery stores in Santa Maria on South Blosser Road and South Bradley Road, the latest in a string of expansions in the Tri-Counties.

The Blosser Road location will serve Santa Maria residents near the intersection with Boone Street. The Bradley Road location is slated for an empty storefront near the Bentonville, Ark. company’s existing Santa Maria store and will add fresh produce and meats to the company’s offerings in the Crossroads Shopping Center.

“It would be very convenient for our shoppers to visit us at our store in the Crossroads Shopping Center and then go right next door to shop with us in the Neighborhood Market,” said Walmart spokeswoman Amelia McLear.

The Santa Maria moves come as Walmart extends its grocery offerings in the Tri-Counties, where activists have put up stout resistance to the all-in-one Walmart stores that exist throughout much of the rest of the U.S.

In 2008, the company began the conversion of a 146,000-square-foot store in Oxnard into a Super Center with a full-service grocery. The company secured approval from Lompoc officials to add 41,000 feet to a location in the city with the intent of adding grocery offerings.

Earlier this year, Walmart won approval from city leaders in Atascadero in a years-long process to build a store that will feature a full grocery section.

Walmart said the Santa Maria locations are expected to create about 65 permanent jobs at each new Neighborhood Market store.