Giant Eagle, Wal-Mart, others localizing business with corner grocery stores

PITTSBURGH Shoppers are staying closer to home to pick up the essentials, reports have said, and to respond, large box retailers and sprawling grocery store chains are reacting by opening up smaller-sized neighborhood grocery stores.

In the Phoenix market, Wal-Mart is opening fresh grocery markets in neighborhoods around Scottsdale. U.K.-based grocery chain Tesco has also last year introduced to West Coast markets smaller format Fresh & Easy stores. And in Pennsylvania, Giant Eagle was has opened its first “Express” in Harmarville.

Other grocery chains across the Uniteds States, such as Safeway and Jewel-Osco, are also experimenting with different formats, reports have aid. Some companies, such as Tesco, are also examining neighborhoods in pockets of large cities, such as Los Angeles, New York and Seattle, where opening smaller satellite stores might be the best way to reach out to communities underserved by regular-sized chain grocery stores.