March 30 (Bloomberg) -- Tesco Plc, Britain's biggest supermarket chain, has put the expansion of its Fresh & Easy stores in the U.S. on hold for three months to allow the business time to ``settle down.''

Tesco opened its first U.S. store last November and planned to add 50 outlets in California, Arizona and Nevada by February. The Cheshunt, England-based supermarket chain, which controls a third of the U.K. grocery market, also owns stores in emerging markets from Turkey to Malaysia and makes more than 25 percent of its sales outside Britain.

``We've given ourselves a little bit of time to kick the tires, smooth out any wrinkles, and make some improvements that customers have asked for,'' Simon Uwins, Fresh & Easy marketing director, wrote on his Web log last week. ``Quite simply, to allow the business we've created to settle down.''

The retailer plans to have about 200 U.S. stores by February 2009, it said in November.

``We've opened 31 stores in 66 days so far this year, now we're pausing for breath,'' Uwins wrote on March 26. ``The next three months will allow us to accelerate this process, before we restart what's been described as an opening program on steroids.''

Tesco also plans to open stores in Russia, real-estate advisers who have held talks with the retailer said on March 28.

Tesco spokesman David Nieberg confirmed the comments on Uwin's blog.

U.K. Consumers

The retailer's overseas growth comes as consumer spending is slowing in the U.K. Earlier this month it cut prices on more than 5,000 products from tomatoes to diapers to retain customers.

Tesco said in an e-mailed statement March 11 that the reductions would save shoppers 170 million pounds ($341 million). It added it had already cut prices of 7,500 items this year, the largest number of reductions in a three-month period.

Tesco stock has fallen 18 percent since the start of this year, similar to the 17 percent decline in the FTSE All-Share Food & Drug Retailers Index. The shares fell 0.6 percent on March 18 to 390.25 pence.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tracy Alloway in London at talloway@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 30, 2008 09:07 EDT