Asda chief executive Andy Bond has been given the go-ahead to open 300 Living stores from parent Wal-Mart.
In an interview with The Observer he announced his plan to beat the £3.5 billion sales growth target set by rival Sainsbury's boss, Justin King.

"We have avenues of growth such as Asda Living which we will expand very quickly," he said.

"There are probably 300 locations where you could have an Asda Living store."
Asda currently has seven Living stores.

Sainsbury's is reportedly embarking on a non-food drive to increase total sales by £3.5 billion over the next three years, with non-food accounting for about half of its supermarket estate.

The focus on growing sales by expanding its homewares arm is supported by findings in the latest report from retail analysts, Verdict.

In 'How Britain Shops 2007: Homewares', Verdict found Asda increased its visitor share from 19.3% to 19.6%, extending its lead over rivals. Overall, the homewares sector has marginally increased the share of shoppers by 0.3 percentage points to 43% for 2007.

Second placed Tesco has seen its share drop from 17.6% to 17.3%. John Lewis is the most successful retailer in converting its footfall into loyal customers with a conversion rate of 62.1%, followed by Dunelm with 56.0% and Argos in third place with 53.8%.

How Britain Shops studies the purchasing patterns of 6,000 shoppers.