The design of Wal-Mart’s new small format Marketside stores, which will open in the Phoenix, Arizona area in coming weeks, marks a dramatic break with the branding of the rest of Wal-Mart’s more than 3,400 low-cost US stores.

Pictures of one of the first four new 15,000 sq ft stores, which Wal-Mart says are part of a pilot, have appeared on the website of the city of Mesa, southeast of Phoenix.

The design includes a natural wood finish around the entrance, and deep-purple awnings - the same colour that will be used on the aprons of the staff, and on its website, www.marketplace.com. The Marketside name appears in lower case green lettering, with no reference to its parent company.

The first four stores have been built in former drugstore sites. Wal-Mart has indicated that the pilot will involve up to ten stores. It has acquired at least two other sites in the Phoenix area where it is planning to build new stores from scratch.

The new Wal-Mart stores will be competing directly with Tesco’s new Fresh & Easy small format stores. Tesco has opened 20 stores in the Phoenix area in less than a year, with another 16 sites announced so far.

Both retailers say their formats are aimed at providing fresh and prepared foods in a convenient neighbourhood location.

Unlike Fresh & Easy’s minimalist hard-discount stores, planning documents indicate that the Marketside stores will have some foods heated and prepared on the premises, including rotisserie meats and breads.

Marketside is the first new format to be launched by Wal-Mart since it started its supermarket-sized Wal-Mart Neigborhood Market stores in 1998. It is also the first format not to use the Wal-Mart name since it created the Sam’s Club warehouse store in 1983.

Wal-Mart has projected that the pilot, if successful, could evolve to between 1,000 and 1,500 stores with over $10bn annual sales.

A number of other leading US supermarket chains are also now testing new small format grocery stores, including Safeway and Supervalu.