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Phoenix, AZ — Feb 01, `08 — Wal-Mart is actively working to open its first small-scale grocery stores in Arizona, according to city planning officials, as the world’s largest retailer looks to fend off competition from British supermarket rival Tesco, reports Reuters.

Tesco entered the US marketplace last year, opening Fresh & Easy  stores in California, Arizona and Nevada. The company is seeking to woo U.S. shoppers with smaller convenience stores that emphasize ready-to-eat meals and fresh produce.

Wal-Mart, whose No. 2 British supermarket chain Asda competes with No. 1 Tesco in the United Kingdom, has long been rumored to be planning a new, smaller store concept that would rival the Tesco’s stores in the States.

According to planning officials for four different cities in Arizona, Wal-Mart is now refining plans it submitted to launch convenience store-sized markets — some close to recently opened Tesco stores — in former drug stores in four cities southeast of Phoenix. More at Reuters.

- Retail Store Operations Will Wind-Down, Offering Consumers Attractive Holiday Bargains on Computer and Electronics Products

DALLAS, Dec 07, ‘07 /PRNewswire/ — CompUSA today announced that it has been acquired by an affiliate of Gordon Brothers Group, LLC, a global advisory, restructuring and investment firm specializing in retail, consumer products, real estate and industrial sectors. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Gordon Brothers Group will initiate an orderly wind-down of CompUSA’s retail store operations and is engaged in discussions with various parties regarding the sale of certain assets. CompUSA’s 103 retail stores will remain open and staffed during the holiday season, and will offer consumers attractive bargains on computer and electronic products as part of store closing sales.

Active discussions are under way to sell select stores in key markets as well as the company’s highly-regarded technical services business,
CompUSA TechPro, and its productive Internet sales operation, CompUSA.com. CompUSA TechPro and CompUSA.com will be operated by the company as going concerns until any sale transactions are closed.

CompUSA will be run by Bill Weinstein, a Principal at Gordon Brothers Group, acting as Interim President, and by Stephen Gray, Managing Partner at restructuring firm CRG Partners, who will serve as Chief Restructuring Officer. Current CEO Roman Ross will continue to serve the company in an executive advisory capacity during the transition period.

DJM Realty, a Gordon Brothers Group company that specializes in real estate disposition and valuations, will assist in assessing the leases for
CompUSA’s store locations. More at PRNewsWire.

Dec 03, ‘07 — Tesco, the UK’s largest retailer, is planning to open a 1,000-strong chain of discount stores in the US, pitting it against rival retail giant Wal-Mart.

The supermarket has just opened 15 of its Fresh & Easy stores in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego and Phoenix. It aims to open a further 200 outlets by 2009 with plans in place to expand the network.

The US retail market is the world’s most competitive and has proved a tough nut to crack for many UK retailers.

The company is planning to open a second distribution centre in northern California. Like the first one, located near Los Angeles, the centre could serve up to 500 stores.

Fresh & Easy’s roll out in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego and Phoenix is being closely watched, with Tesco, the world’s third-largest retailer after Wal-Mart and Carrefour , bankrolling it to a tune of 250 million pounds ($516 million) per year over five years.

Tesco is targeting US grocers such as 7-Eleven and locally-run stores using a chain of convenience stores modelled on the Tesco Express blueprint. Fresh & Easy stores are 75% smaller than most American supermarkets.