Wal-Mart eyes expansion for Marketside stores

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores (WMT.N) says its new Marketside stores could expand to a chain of more than 1,000 stores with more than $10 billion (5.1 billion pounds) in annual sales, the Financial Times reported, citing a job posting for the retailer, which the FT said was subsequently removed.

A Wal-Mart spokesman, when contacted for comment, said that Marketside is a very small-scale pilot project, and that the world's largest retailer has no firm plans for it beyond that.

Wal-Mart will open four Marketside stores in the fall in the Phoenix, Arizona, area, according to the community grocery store concept's website.

The FT online report said the retailer plans to open 10 of the 15,000-square-foot (6,000-square-meter) Marketside stores initially, including the four in the Phoenix area.

A job advertisement for the retailer said the Marketside format "is expected to start with 10 stores and evolve to between 1,000 - 1,500 stores with over $10 (billion) annual sales," the FT reported.

The posting was subsequently pulled from Wal-Mart's website, the FT added.

Wal-Mart has said earlier it is developing the Marketside stores to attract shoppers looking for a quick option to purchase fresh groceries.

The new store concept comes after British supermarket rival Tesco Plc (TSCO.L) entered the U.S. marketplace last year with its Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets in California, Arizona and Nevada.

(Reporting by Aarthi Sivaraman; Editing by Braden Reddall)