Tesco Gets Ready to Test Smaller Format

The grocer has plans to pilot its convenience store size in southern California.

August 05, 2011

LOS ANGELES - Tesco will start testing its smaller, Fresh & Easy Express stores in southern California later this year, the Financial Times reports. The stores will run around 3,000 square feet, less than half a usual Fresh & Easy store with its 10,000 square feet.

The British retailer hopes the smaller footprint will revitalize interest in the Fresh & Easy chain because Express stores could be located in urban areas, such as Los Angeles. While Tesco currently has some stores with 7,000 square feet, the Express will be its first foray into the U.S. convenience store market. The company owns convenience stores in China, South Korea, the United Kingdom and Europe.

"We are always looking to serve more neighborhoods and in order to open stores in more communities we are going to be trialing a handful of smaller stores called Fresh & Easy Express," said the company. Tesco also has redesigned its Fresh & Easy stores to remake them into more like a U.S. grocery store.

The move by Tesco to shrink its stores comes as other retailers are considering smaller footprints, including Walmart, which will open its first Walmart Market in Sommerville, Mass. Other U.K. retailers have revealed plans to institute convenience stores as well.

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