Marketside getting Walmart's name added to its own
* Marketside being rebranded as Marketside by Walmart
* Walmart says Great Value relaunch been a bit delayed
SAN FRANCISCO June 15 (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) is stepping out from behind the scenes and putting its name on the small convenience-size grocery stores, called Marketside, it began operating last year.
The Phoenix-area stores are now being called Marketside by Walmart.
The move comes after Wal-Mart rebranded its U.S. stores under the Walmart name last year and gave itself a new logo featuring a yellow sunburst.
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Caren Epstein said the Marketside rebranding is the second phase of the roll-out of its new U.S. name, and will also extend to its Neighborhood Markets.
In October, Wal-Mart opened four Marketside stores as a test to try to appeal to shoppers who wanted ready-to-eat meals and fresh produce, but did not have enough time for a trip to a full-scale grocery store.
The Marketside stores are roughly 15,000 square feet, while a Walmart U.S. supercenter -- that combines a full grocery store with a discount store -- averages 187,000 square feet.
Earlier this month, Wal-Mart said that while it was "pleased" with Marketside, it was not accelerating the test of the stores given the economic climate.
Wal-Mart's Epstein also confirmed that Walmart's relaunch of its Great Value private label "has been a little bit more delayed than we would have hoped."
In a research note on Monday, J.P. Morgan analyst Terry Bivens said the private label relaunch was tracking slower than expected and "discussions with industry sources and store checks reveal the new line in a few dozen categories, short of the 100 or so believed to be targeted."
The Great Value brand includes thousands of products across more than 100 food, beverage and household product categories.
In March, Walmart began putting revamped Great Value products on its shelves, and said it expected the relaunch to be completed by the end of the summer. It has changed formulas for 750 products, added more than 80 new items to the line and updated its packaging.
"We believe the relaunch has likely been delayed by lead times, as well as product breadth and complexity," Bivens wrote in the research note.
Epstein said Walmart had an "aggressive" relaunch schedule and "part of the delay was wanting to make sure we got it right."
Strong sales of groceries have helped to fuel the retailer's business amid the recession and Wal-Mart's stock had a great run last year as investors bet the discount behemoth would outperform rivals amid the economic downturn.
But its stock has fallen this year as investors bet shares of discretionary retailers could get a boost when shoppers once again have excess cash to spend.
On Monday, Goldman Sachs analyst Adrianne Shapira downgraded Wal-Mart's stock to "neutral" from "buy," saying retailers of more discretionary items should display greater relative earnings momentum beginning in the second half of 2009.
Shares fell $1.38, or 2.8 percent, to close at $48.46 on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Nicole Maestri; Editing by Richard Chang)
