• The [Northwest Arkansas] Morning News , Thursday, June 26, 2008 10:01 AM

For the first time, Wal-Mart is publicly revealing details about its newest store concept -- the four Marketside outlets it is opening in the Phoenix area in the fall. On a new Web site for the stores, Wal-Mart makes it clear that it is looking to one-up the British retailer Tesco by emphasizing service. The site lists openings for "meal specialists" to work across all operational areas of the store including cashier, food preparer, merchandising and store presentation.

The battle royale between the world's No. 1 and No. 3 retailers is heating up. The four Wal-Mart stores to open in the Phoenix area are located in neighborhoods that already have a Fresh & Easy store --- Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa and Tempe. The 15,000-square-foot stores will focus on fresh foods and grab-and-go meals with fewer than 10 seats for the time-pressed, dine-in customer. Tesco's Fresh & Easy stores are 10,000-square-feet with a mix of private-label brands and familiar ones.

Noticeably absent from the site, marketside.com, is the Wal-Mart look. In a photograph of staff, three employees sport plum butcher's aprons and gold nametags with the store's stacked fruit logo and lower-case green lettering. "We're your neighborhood market," the site says.

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