Wal-Mart is considering acquisitions in its home market for the first time in more than 25 years as it seeks to open smaller stores and cut its reliance on its giant Supercenters for future growth.

The world’s largest retailer, whose US stores had sales of more than $64bn last year, is seeking an executive to assess the “strategic implications of any possible M&A on our overall portfolio”, according to a Wal-Mart job posting.