Report: Wal-Mart to Serve Food in Small-Format Stores

New York City Wal-Mart Stores intends to prepare and serve food in its upcoming small-format stores, the Financial Times said on Friday, as it competes with Tesco's Fresh & Easy markets.

The smaller-format stores, which will operate under the Marketside banner, will include a kitchen, food counters and seating, the report said.

The new format—planned at 15,000 sq. ft.—is about a third of the size of most of its Neighborhood Market stores, and less than a tenth of the size of most of the world's largest retailer's superstores.

The stores will have a logo showing a pile of stylized fruit and vegetables with the Marketside name in green and a small blue star, according to the report.