No games for Asdas mini shops

Asda will open 168 new shops this year, but the majority of them won’t stock video games.

That’s because 147 of these shops are former Netto stores – outlets considerably smaller (about 8,000 sq ft) than your typical Asda supermarket (roughly 38,000 sq ft).

However, the grocer told MCV it is open to the idea of stocking games in these smaller stores in the future.
Asda’s parent Wal-Mart purchased Netto’s 195 UK outlets for 778m in May last year.

The firm has now been given the green light by the Office of Fair Trading to open a large number of them, although Asda is going to have to trim its store count. It has agreed to sell some of its stores to Morrisons and Iceland.

It’s not all bad news for games though – Asda says it will open a number of larger outlets, too. These include seven superstores, 10 supermarkets and four Asda Living shops.

2011 will be Asda’s largest year of store growth in its entire 46-year history.