Wal-Mart is planning to open small-scale grocery stores in Arizona where UK grocer, Tesco, recently launched its Fresh & Easy supermarket concept, according to media reports. Wal-Mart has secured leases on four properties south-east of Phoenix where it will open pilot stores, under the name "Marketside". Each is about 20,000 sq ft, a tenth of the size of its current supercenters, according to a report in the Financial Times. Some of these stores, likely to be open by the summer, are only a mile from Tesco's Fresh & Easy stores. Tesco already has seven stores in Phoenix and has plans to open over 30 in the region.

Wal-Mart's logo, filed in planning documents in Arizona, for its Marketside stores consists of green lettering with a stylised tomato, egg and grape topped by a Wal-Mart blue star. This suggests a strong emphasis on fresh foods, and a direct head to head with the Tesco's Fresh & Easy concept.
Unlike Wal-Mart's supercentres, the planning process for the Marketside stores does not require public consultation, potentially creating a way for Wal-Mart to build its presence in cities and states where its supercenter expansion has been slowed by union-backed political opposition, says the report.

The retailer has also registered a number of new trade names in recent months, such as City Thyme and Field & Vine, which some industry analysts believe could be used for new private label fresh-food offerings, according to the Financial Times.