Wal-Mart to Test Smaller Grocery Format

Bentonville, Ark. Wal-Mart Stores announced Monday it will open a new, smaller-size grocery-store concept in the Phoenix area. The announcement comes after British retailer Tesco Plc opened its first U.S. stores last fall, in the Los Angeles area, followed by locations in the Las Vegas and Phoenix markets.

The new Wal-Mart outlets, to be called Marketside, will be about 20,000 sq. ft., roughly half the size of the discounter’s Neighborhood Market grocery stores and twice the size of the Fresh & Easy markets, according to London’s Financial Times. A Wal-Mart spokesman said the retailer is always testing new ideas and declined to say if the new format would be rolled out in more locations.