The web address for the Marketside retail store chain (www.marketside.com) now contains [image-nocss] only a new "Marketside" logo, a graphic and headline about the new Marketside store brand food products, "a new line of fresh-food products specially designed to bring you the best quality fresh foods and ingredients available at Walmart's low prices."
The webpage also includes a comment box asking readers to e-mail any comments about the new store brand line to the company.
"The old Marketside retail stores' website is gone," stated the blog. "And based on our research, Wal-Mart has not moved it to another web address." Walmart Stores Inc. does include Marketside, along with its other corporate retail formats, on its corporate website (www.walmartstores.com). A Facebook page for Marketside by Walmart shows no activity since November, and the latest post refers fans to the regular Walmart page. However, an employment websitewww.workformarketside.comstill appears to be active.
Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart opened the four Marketside combination grocery and fresh-foods markets on Oct. 4, 2008, in the suburban Phoenix towns of Glibert, Chandler, Mesa and Tempe.
Two other stores were initially planned for the Phoenix area, and up to five additional Marketside test stores were planned for the San Diego region in Southern California. However, earlier this year Walmart announced it was postponing the opening of any additional Marketside stores until further announcement.
Shortly after this announcement Walmart confirmed it would introduce the first of its food products under the Marketside store brand this year, according to the blog post. It has started doing so. The first Marketside branded item is an upscale prepared pizza.
So, what do the online changes and rebranding mean for the Marketside stores? Fresh & Easy Buzz, a blog that regularly reports on news of the U.K.'s Tesco's Fresh & Easy stores in the United States and its retail competitors, offers some conjecture.
"We think the main reason Walmart did this is because since it now has rebranded the four stores in Arizona Marketside by Walmart, the old website can no longer function as a marketing or communications tool," the blogger wrote. "We don't suspect Walmart will close the four existing Marketside stores just yet though. But the fact the chain postponed going forward with opening the additional Marketside stores doesn't hold great promise for the future.... The San Diego region stores haven't been built/remodeled yet, although Walmart holds leasing on two sites."
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