Ahold is trialling Toys R' Us branded zones at three of its Giant supermarkets in the US. A spokesman said the trial had gone very well during the autumn and the festive period, but Giant now wanted to trial the concept in three new locations in a different period of the year. The zones, selling a wide range of toys, are brightly lit and clearly branded as joint Giant/Toys R' Us areas, but all sales go through the Giant tills. If the trial is successful it will be rolled out to more Giant stores, but the spokesman said other Ahold companies in the 38 countries it operates in might also want to try the toy concept in suitable areas. Toys R' Us is facing growing competition in the US from Wal-Mart, whose toy sales now exceed those of the toy specialist, and it is keen to benefit from shoppers' more frequent visits to supermarkets, compared with its own stores. Toys R' Us chairman and chief executive John Eyler commented: "If everybody agrees it's worth rolling it out, then we will pursue it aggressively." l Ahold will open its first mega-supermarket' in the Netherlands, at Arnhem, on February 7. The superstore is the first of the new concept stores Ahold is building under the Albert Heijn fascia, with more than a fifth of the selling area devoted to non food items such as cooking utensils and microwaves, said a spokesman. Ahold is planning to open 70 mega-supermarkets in the Netherlands over the next three to five years. At over 40,000 sq ft, they are considerably larger than standard Albert Heijn stores, which range from 8,000 to 35,000sq ft. {{NEWS }}