Walmart is looking for the new Marketside small format store concept it is developing to eventually generate over $10 billion in annual sales from 1,000 to 1,500 locations around the U.S.
The retailer plans to open about 10 Marketside stores initially with the first four of the 15,000-square-foot units to open in the Phoenix market.
Walmart has moved to launch its new format in answer to Tesco's rollout of its Fresh & Easy concept in the U.S. Walmart CEO Lee Scott said back in 2005 that one of the major advantages Tesco had over its Asda division was its convenience store format.
According to a Financial Times report, Tesco has opened more than 60 Fresh & Easy stores and has plans to have several hundred up and running over the next two years.
Other retailers including Safeway and Supervalu are also looking at opening small format grocery stores.
Discussion Questions: There are only so many groceries that can be bought. Which current format is most vulnerable to the emergence of small format grocery stores? Do you have a sense as to which of the large chains looking at small format grocery is most likely to be successful with the format and why?