The last in a trio of articles from page B1 of the May 28th Wall Street Journal (or at least it was in my edition of the paper) is about Wal-Mart’s strategy in the U.K. to operate stores with smaller footprints than what most people envision when they think of the giant retailer.

Asda, the British arm of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., is buying the U.K. stores of the Danish Netto chain in a £778 million ($1.12 billion) transaction, filling a strategic gap for Wal-Mart in Britain — smaller stores that can compete with rivals that have opened downsized local markets in recent years.

We are seeing similar strategies play out in North America as “big box” retailers run out of room to expand in their traditional formats.  With the demise of big players like Linens ‘N’ Things and Circuit City, in fact, there are relatively cheap spaces that are vacant as retailers try to manage costs in the face of online competitors, among others.  Will Wal-Mart in the United States seek to do something similar?

Corporate News: Wal-Mart’s Asda Acquires Netto Stores in U.K.. Cecilie Rohwedder. Wall Street Journal. (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: May 28, 2010. pg. B.7