Wal-Mart Ramping Up Against Tesco?

Is Wal-Mart taking on Tesco as the latter ramps up its US presence? Yes, according to a report in the Financial Times. Wal-Mart is apparently testing four 20,000-sf, grocery-store units to compete with the British retailer’s rollout , which will feature 10,000-sf locations.The article says that the logo of the new store come “with a stylised tomato, egg and grape topped by a Wal-Mart blue star” guesses that the store will “have a far stronger stress on fresh foods.” We find this interesting because Wal-Mart already runs a grocery chain, Neighborhood Markets, which has been around since 1998 but only has 128 units. Those stores average 42,000 sf. Of course, Wal-Mart sells groceries at its 2,435 Supercenter locations across the country as well.It surprises us that Wal-Mart would consider the Tesco presence a threat to its sales in the area, especially because of the competition it already faces from traditional grocers, other discounters, specialty supermarkets, wholesale clubs and other concepts. Or is it making the best, most cautious, move?