Wal-Mart eyes Sweden

US retailing giant Wal-Mart is in talks about opening a store in Sundsvall in northern Sweden, officials from the city report.

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“Wal-Mart is interested in establishing a test-store in northern Europe, and if they do it will be Sundvall’s Östra Birsta shopping area,” said Gerhard Larsson, a former governor of Västernorrland and one of those involved in the discussions, to the Dagens Handel newspaper.

A spokesperson from Wal-Mart declined to confirm or deny the report.

“We are always looking to establish in new areas. But we don’t comment on where or how,” Wal-Mart’s Kevin Gardner told the newspaper.

Should plans for the store move forward, Sweden’s first Wal-Mart store would beside an Ikea store and an Ica Maxi supermarket.

The negotiations come several years after the creation of a partnership between communities in Västernorrland and the town of Madison, Mississippi in the United States.

During a visit to the US, officials from the Sundsvall business community met with their Madison counterparts, which included representatives from Wal-Mart.

Officials from Sundsvall hope now that the partnership will bear fruit which can help the new retailing area gain traction.

“One can assume that in order to further develop, Birsta needs to have some kind of really exciting customer magnet which hasn’t previously been established in Sundsvall,” said one official to Dagens Handel.