SYNDEY, Australia – When the number of urban dwellers increased, large grocery store chains in Australia noticed—and started moving into convenience stores to cater to the needs of inner city residents living in smaller houses. But now those retailers are pulling back a bit on the expansion efforts, The Conversation reports.

What’s driven convenience store growth so far has been the shopping behavior of consumers from once-a-week shopping to frequent “top-up” trips. The four biggest Australian supermarket chains currently have more convenience stores than full groceries.

However, the risks involved with opening smaller format stores include misreading the local market needs and stocking the wrong kinds of things. Fierce competition coupled with higher costs to run a smaller operation also contribute to making convenience stores a riskier proposition at times.

With convenience stores nestled into inner cities, close to transit hubs and on Main Street, the retailers have provided consumers with an easy way to shop frequently for food. Now customers stop by convenience stores for an evening meal as well as pick up a few items for lunch the next day.

But the saturation of smaller format stores is triggering a re-evaluation by the chains. For example, Tesco has closed 18 Tesco Express and 12 Tesco Metro stores, while Morrisons has shuttered 10 of its c-stores.