Tesco plc () is a British
multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in
Welwyn Garden City
Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and ...
, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the
ninth-largest in the world measured by revenues. It has shops in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
and
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
. It is the market leader of groceries in the UK (where it has a market share of around 28.4%).
Tesco has expanded globally since the early 1990s, with operations in 11 other countries in the world. The company pulled out of the US in 2013, but continues to see growth elsewhere. Since the 1960s, Tesco has
diversified into areas such as the retailing of books, clothing, electronics, furniture, toys, petrol, software,
financial services
Financial services are the Service (economics), economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, acco ...
,
telecoms
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
and internet services. In the 1990s, Tesco re-positioned itself from being a downmarket high-volume low-cost retailer, attempting to attract a range of social groups with its low-cost "Tesco Value" range (launched 1993
) and premium "Tesco Finest" range.
Tesco is listed on the
London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...
and is a constituent of the
FTSE 100 Index
The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with (in principle) the highest market ...
.
History
Origins
Jack Cohen, the son of Jewish migrants from Poland, founded Tesco in 1919 when he began to sell war-surplus groceries from a stall at Well Street Market,
Hackney, in the
East End of London
The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...
.
The Tesco brand first appeared in 1924. The name came about after Jack Cohen bought a shipment of tea from ''Thomas Edward Stockwell''. He made new labels using the initials of the supplier's name (TES), and the first two letters of his surname (CO), forming the word TESCO.
After experimenting with his first permanent indoor market stall at
Tooting
Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth and partly in the London Borough of Merton. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross.
History
Tooting has been settled since pre- Saxon times ...
in November 1930, Jack Cohen opened the first Tesco shop in September 1931 at 54 Watling Street,
Burnt Oak
Burnt Oak is a suburb of London, England, located northwest of Charing Cross. It lies to the west of the M1 motorway between Edgware and Colindale, located predominantly in the London Borough of Barnet, with parts comprising the London Boroughs ...
,
Edgware
Edgware () is a suburban town in northern Greater London, mostly in the London Borough of Barnet but with small parts falling in the London Borough of Harrow and in the London Borough of Brent. Edgware is centred north-northwest of Charing Cros ...
,
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...
.
[Maurice Corina: “Pile It High Sell It Cheap: The Authorised Biography of Sir Jack Cohen”, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1971] Tesco was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1947 as Tesco Stores (Holdings) Limited.
The first self-service shop opened in
St Albans
St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...
in 1956 (which remained operational until 2010 before relocating to larger premises on the same street, with a period as a Tesco Metro), and the first supermarket in
Maldon
Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the River Blackwater, Essex, Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea ...
in 1956.
Expansion
During the 1950s and 1960s, Tesco grew organically, and also through acquisitions, until it owned more than 800 shops.
The company purchased 70 ''Williamson's'' shops (1957), 200 ''Harrow Stores'' outlets (1959), 212 ''Irwins'' shops (1960), 97 ''Charles Phillips'' shops (1964) and the
Victor Value
The name Victor or Viktor may refer to:
* Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname
Arts and entertainment
Film
* ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film
* ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...
chain (1968) (sold to
Bejam
Bejam was a British frozen food retailer founded by John Apthorp in 1968, based in Stanmore.
History
In 1968, the concept of selling only frozen foods was a novel idea at the time, and Bejam grew out of Apthorp's existing family business of ' ...
in 1986).
Jack Cohen's business motto was "pile it high and sell it cheap",
to which he added an internal motto of "YCDBSOYA" (You Can't Do Business Sitting On Your Arse) which he used to motivate his sales force.
In May 1987, Tesco completed its
hostile takeover
In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to ...
of the
Hillards
Hillards plc was a small supermarket chain from the North of England, bought out in a hostile takeover by Tesco in May 1987.
History
The company was founded by John Wesley Hillard in 1885, in the West Yorkshire town of Cleckheaton. The first ...
chain of 40 supermarkets in the North of England for £220 million.
In 1994, the company took over the supermarket chain
William Low after fighting off
Sainsbury's
J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales.
Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company wa ...
for control of the
Dundee
Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
-based firm, which operated 57 shops. This paved the way for Tesco to expand its presence in Scotland, in which its presence was weaker than in England.
Tesco introduced a
loyalty card, branded '
Clubcard
Tesco Clubcard (commonly referred to and branded as Clubcard) is the loyalty card of British supermarket chain Tesco.
The Clubcard scheme operates in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and several other countries. ...
' in 1995, and later an Internet shopping service. In 1996 the typeface of the logo was changed to the current version with stripe reflections underneath, whilst the corporate font used for shop signage was changed from the familiar "typewriter" font that had been used since the 1970s. Overseas operations were introduced the same year.
Terry Leahy
Sir Terence Patrick "Terry" Leahy (born 28 February 1956) is a British businessman, previously the CEO of Tesco, the largest British retailer and the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues.
He now lives in Cuffley, Hertford ...
assumed the role of Chief Executive on 21 February 1997, the appointment having been announced on 21 November 1995.
On 21 March 1997, Tesco announced the purchase of the retail arm of
Associated British Foods
Associated British Foods plc (ABF) is a British multinational food processing and retailing company headquartered in London, England. Its ingredients division is the world's second-largest producer of both sugar and baker's yeast and a major pr ...
, which consisted of the
Quinnsworth
Tesco Ireland is the Irish subsidiary of supermarket group Tesco. Tesco Ireland was formed by Tesco plc's 1997 purchase of the Irish retailing operations of Associated British Foods, namely Powers' Supermarkets Limited and its subsidiaries, tr ...
,
Stewarts and
Crazy Prices
Tesco Ireland is the Irish subsidiary of supermarket group Tesco. Tesco Ireland was formed by Tesco plc's 1997 purchase of the Irish retailing operations of Associated British Foods, namely Powers' Supermarkets Limited and its subsidiaries, tra ...
chains in Ireland and Northern Ireland, and associated businesses, for £640 million. The deal was approved by the European Commission on 6 May 1997.
The company was the subject of a
letter bomb campaign lasting five months from August 2000 to February 2001 as a bomber calling himself "Sally" sent letter bombs to Tesco customers and demanded that Clubcards be modified to be capable of withdrawing money from cash machines.
Diversification
The company started to expand the range of products it sold during the 1960s to include household goods and clothing under the Delamare brand, and in 1974 opened its first petrol station.
In 2001, Tesco became involved in internet grocery retailing in the US when it obtained a 35% stake in GroceryWorks.
In 2002, Tesco purchased 13 HIT hypermarkets in Poland. It also made a major move into the UK's convenience shop market with its purchase of T&S Stores, owner of
870 convenience shops in the One Stop, Dillons and Day & Nite chains in the UK.
In June 2003, Tesco purchased the C Two-Network in Japan. It also acquired a majority stake in the Turkish supermarket chain
Kipa Kipa or KIPA may refer to:
* Kipa (supermarket), a Turkish supermarket chain
* alternative spelling of kippah, a type of Jewish hat People with the name
* Ming Kipa (born 1988), Nepalese Sherpa girl who climbed Mount Everest
* Rangi Kipa (born 19 ...
. In January 2004, Tesco acquired Adminstore, owner of 45 Cullens, Europa, and Harts convenience shops, in and around London.
In Thailand, Tesco Lotus was a joint venture of the
Charoen Pokphand
The Charoen Pokphand Group Company, Ltd. (CP) (; ) is a Thai conglomerate based in Bangkok. It is Thailand's largest private company and the largest privately held Royal Warrant holder of the Thai Royal Family. The company describes itself as havi ...
Group and Tesco, but facing criticism over the growth of
hypermarket
A hypermarket (sometimes called a hyperstore, supercentre or superstore) is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including ...
s CP Group sold its Tesco Lotus shares in 2003. In late 2005 Tesco acquired the 21 remaining
Safeway
Safeway is an American supermarket chain founded by Marion Barton Skaggs in April 1915 in American Falls, Idaho. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and features a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, d ...
/
BP shops after
Morrisons
Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headqua ...
dissolved the Safeway/BP partnership.
In 2006, Tesco announced plans to move into the United States by opening a chain of small format groceries in the Western states (Arizona, California, and Nevada) in 2007 named
Fresh & Easy. Tesco would eventually pull out of the United States market in 2013, following performance issues.
2010s
In 2010, Tesco started funding a small film studio intended to produce Tesco exclusive direct-to-DVD films. The first film was released on 6 September called ''
Paris Connections
''Paris Connections'' is a 2010 British film directed by Harley Cokeliss. The script was written by Michael Tupy, based on a thriller by Jackie Collins. The film was the first direct to DVD film that the British supermarket firm Tesco produced, ...
'', based on a popular novel by Jackie Collins.
In 2013, Tesco confirmed that it was pulling out of its US market (Fresh & Easy) stores in April, after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, at a reported cost of £1.2 billion. In September, Tesco announced that it would sell the business to
Ronald Burkle
Ronald Wayne Burkle (born November 12, 1952) is an American businessman. He is the co-founder and managing partner of The Yucaipa Companies, LLC, a private investment firm that specializes in U.S. companies in the distribution, logistics, food, ...
's
Yucaipa Companies
The Yucaipa Companies, LLC is an American private equity firm founded in 1986 by Ronald Burkle. It specializes in private equity and venture capital, with a focus on middle-market companies, growth capital, industry consolidation, leveraged buy ...
for an undisclosed amount. That same month, Tesco launched its first
tablet computer
A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being comput ...
, a seven-inch model called
Hudl
Hudl is a product and service of Agile Sports Technologies, Inc. - a Lincoln, Nebraska based company providing tools for coaches and athletes to review game footage and improve team play. Its initial product line served college and profession ...
. Tesco also purchased the restaurant and cafe chain Giraffe for £48.6 million.
In 2015, Tesco confirmed the sale of its
Blinkbox
TalkTalk TV Store (formerly blinkbox) was a UK-based transactional (purchase and rental) video-on-demand (VoD) service available on Macintosh and Microsoft Windows computers, games consoles, tablet computers and Smart TVs. Content is generally ...
on-demand video service and its fixed-line telephone and broadband business to
TalkTalk.
In January, Tesco sold the
Blinkbox Music
Blinkbox Music (originally We7) was a free, advertising supported, music streaming service, with over 12 million tracks available for streaming in the UK and Ireland, with content from the music industry, and most independent labels and distribu ...
streaming service to now-defunct
Guvera
Guvera was an online music and entertainment streaming service founded in 2008. Guvera had agreements with the music labels in the regions where the product was available, which allowed for legal free music streams. As of May 2017, Guvera has ...
, and confirmed it would close its Blinkbox Books service by the end of February.
In 2016, Tesco confirmed it was seeking to sell
Dobbies Garden Centres
Dobbies Garden Centres (styled as Dobbies) is a British chain of garden centres based in Lasswade, Scotland. It is the biggest garden centre operator in the United Kingdom, operating over 75 stores, some of which it acquired from the previous bi ...
,
Giraffe Restaurants
Giraffe is a restaurant chain headquartered in Birmingham, England, which was founded in 1998 in Hampstead as Giraffe Restaurants by Juliette Joffe, Russel Joffe and Andrew Jacobs. Giraffe was owned by its founders, with additional financial ba ...
and
Harris + Hoole
Harris may refer to:
Places Canada
* Harris, Ontario
* Northland Pyrite Mine (also known as Harris Mine)
* Harris, Saskatchewan
* Rural Municipality of Harris No. 316, Saskatchewan
Scotland
* Harris, Outer Hebrides (sometimes called the Isle ...
to concentrate on its main supermarket business.
In 2017, it was announced that Tesco had reached an agreement to merge with Britain's biggest wholesaler
Booker Group
Booker Group Limited is a British food wholesale operator and subsidiary of Tesco.
In January 2017, it was announced that the British multinational supermarket retailer Tesco had agreed to purchase the company for £3.7 billion. It was confirm ...
. There were however concerns over market dominance with Tesco being Britain's largest food retailer and Booker being the UK's largest wholesaler. In April, the company confirmed it would sell its in-shop opticians' business to
Vision Express
Vision Express is a British company established in 1988 that sells spectacles and contact lenses.
History
The company opened its first store in 1988, at the MetroCentre, Gateshead, quickly followed by several other stores. In October 1993 ...
. In June, Tesco announced a major cost-cutting initiative that would reduce the company's workforce by over 1,200 workers. Key reductions included over a quarter of its employees in Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield, and the closure of the call centre in Cardiff. The company hoped to reduce costs by £1.5 billion.
In 2019, Tesco announced another cost-cutting initiative that would close the food counters in 90 stores, affecting around 9,000 workers. In October 2019, Tesco announced that CEO Dave Lewis would step down in 2020, and would be succeeded by
Ken Murphy.
UK operations
As of 2017, Tesco's UK shop portfolio was as follows:
Tesco
Hypermarkets
Tesco Extra shops are larger, mainly out-of-town
hypermarkets
A hypermarket (sometimes called a hyperstore, supercentre or superstore) is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including ...
that stock nearly all of Tesco's product ranges, although some are in the heart of town centres and inner-city locations. The largest shop in England by floor space is Tesco Extra in
Walkden
Walkden is a town in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, northwest of Salford, and of Manchester.
Historically in the township of Worsley in Lancashire, Walkden was a centre for coal mining and textile manufacture.
In 2014, ...
, with of floorspace.
In common with other towns, such as
Warrington
Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...
, the
St Helens shop, which at is one of the biggest in England, was developed on the same site as the town's new rugby league stadium.
Supermarkets
Tesco Superstores are standard large supermarkets, stocking groceries and a much smaller range of non-food goods than Extra hypermarkets. The shops have always been branded as 'Tesco', but a new shop in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
was the first to use the format brand 'Tesco Superstore' above the door.
Tesco operates a number of in-shop cafes, but also began to introduce new restaurants in its shops from 2013 under the "Decks Carvery" brand.
Tesco Express
left, Tesco Express store in ,_London">Highbury,_London_.html" ;"title="London.html" ;"title="Highbury, London">Highbury, London ">London.html" ;"title="Highbury, London">Highbury, London
Tesco Express shops are neighbourhood convenience shops averaging , stocking mainly food with an emphasis on higher-margin products such as sweets, crisps, chocolate, biscuits, fizzy drinks and processed food (due to small shop size, and the necessity to maximise revenue per square foot) alongside everyday essentials. They are located in busy city-centre districts, small shopping precincts in residential areas, small towns and villages, and on
Esso
Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (the phonetic p ...
petrol station forecourts. In 2010 it became known that Tesco was operating
Express pricing
Express pricing is a form of price discrimination where, in a reverse of economies of scale, retailers raise their prices slightly in smaller stores. The name of it originates from Tesco Express, but it can be used to apply to any retailer operatin ...
, charging more in its Express branches than in its other stores. A spokesperson said that this was "because of the difference in costs of running the smaller shops".
Fuel stations
Tesco first started selling petrol in 1974. Tesco sells 95, 97 and 99
RON Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald.
Ron or RON may also refer to:
Arts and media
* Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character
* Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character
*Ron Douglas, the protagonist in ''Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe ...
(a fuel developed by
Greenergy
Greenergy International Ltd is a British distributor of petrol and diesel for motor vehicles and has over a quarter of the UK market. It blends fuels at terminals on the Thames estuary in the south and on Teesside
Teesside () is a built-up ...
of which Tesco is a shareholder) petrol from forecourts at most Superstore and Extra locations. Tesco recently diversified into
biofuels
Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels, such as oil. According to the United States Energy Information Administration (E ...
, offering petrol-bioethanol and diesel-biodiesel blends instead of pure petrol and diesel at its petrol stations, and now offering Greenergy 100% biodiesel at many shops in the southeast of the United Kingdom. In 1998, Tesco and
Esso
Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (the phonetic p ...
(part of
ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...
) formed a business alliance that included several petrol filling stations on lease from Esso, with Tesco operating the attached shops under its Express format. In turn, Esso operates the forecourts and sells fuel via the Tesco shop. As of 2013, there were 200 joint Tesco Express/Esso sites in the UK.
Online
In the United Kingdom Tesco operates a home shopping service through the
Tesco.com
Tesco.com is an electronic commerce website operated by Tesco. It offers a wide range of other products, including electronic goods, books, broadband and financial services. Tesco closed their Tesco Direct website in 2018.
History
Tesco has ope ...
website. In May 1984, in
Gateshead
Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...
, England, Mrs. Jane Snowball used a piece of computer technology called "
Videotex
Videotex (or interactive videotex) was one of the earliest implementations of an end-user information system. From the late 1970s to early 2010s, it was used to deliver information (usually pages of text) to a user in computer-like format, typi ...
" on her television to purchase groceries from her local Tesco shop in the world's first recorded
online shopping
Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the r ...
transaction from the home. As of November 2006, Tesco was the only food retailer to make online shopping profitable. Since 2006 Tesco has operated a number of
dark store
The term dark store, dark shop, dark supermarket or dotcom centre refers to a retail outlet or distribution centre that exists exclusively for online shopping. A dark store is generally a large warehouse that can either be used to facilitate a "c ...
s dedicated to the fulfilment of online orders of groceries.
Loyalty card
Tesco launched its
customer loyalty
The loyalty business model is a business model used in strategic management in which company resources are employed so as to increase the loyalty of customers and other stakeholders in the expectation that corporate objectives will be met or sur ...
scheme, the
Tesco Clubcard
Tesco Clubcard (commonly referred to and branded as Clubcard) is the loyalty card of British supermarket chain Tesco.
The Clubcard scheme operates in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and several other countries. ...
, in 1995. It has been cited as a pivotal development in Tesco's progress towards becoming the UK's largest supermarket chain and one that fundamentally changed the country's supermarket business. Tesco itself was cited in a ''Wall Street Journal'' article as using the intelligence from the Clubcard to thwart Wal-Mart's initiatives in the UK.
Cardholders can collect one Clubcard point for every £1 (or one point for €1 in Ireland and Slovakia or 1 point for 1zł in Poland) they spend in a Tesco shop, or at Tesco.com, and 1 point per £2 on fuel (not in Slovakia). Customers can also collect points by paying with a Tesco Credit Card, or by using Tesco Mobile, Tesco Homephone, Tesco Broadband, selected Tesco Personal Finance products or through Clubcard partners,
E.ON and
Avis
Avis is Latin for bird and may refer to:
Aviation
*Auster Avis, a 1940s four-seat light aircraft developed from the Auster Autocrat (abandoned project)
*Avro Avis, a two-seat biplane
*Scottish Aeroplane Syndicate Avis, an early aircraft built by ...
. Each point equates to 1p in shops when redeemed, or up to four times that value when used with Clubcard deals (offers for holidays, day trips, etc.) Clubcard points (UK & IE) can also be converted to
Avios
International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A., trading as International Airlines Group and usually shortened to IAG, is an Anglo-Spanish multinational airline holding company with its registered office in Madrid, Spain, and its global headqua ...
and
Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Atlantic, a trading name of Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited, is a British airline with its head office in Crawley, England. The airline was established in 1984 as British Atlantic Airways, and w ...
frequent flyer miles.
One Stop
One Stop, which includes some of the smallest shops (smaller than a Tesco Express), was (until 2018, when the first
Jack's store opened) the only Tesco shop format in the UK that did not include the word Tesco in its name. The brand, along with the original shops, formed part of the T&S Stores business but, unlike many that were converted to Tesco Express, these kept their old name. Subsequently, other shops bought by Tesco have been converted to the One Stop brand. Some have
Tesco Bank
Tesco Bank is a British retail bank which was formed in July 1997 (as Tesco ''Personal Finance''), and which has been wholly owned by Tesco plc since 2008. The bank was formed as part of a 50:50 joint venture between The Royal Bank of Scotland a ...
branded
cash machines
An automated teller machine (ATM) or cash machine (in British English) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, fund ...
. The business has attracted some controversy, as the prices of groceries in these shops, often situated in more impoverished areas, can be higher than nearby Tesco branded shops, highlighted in ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' 22 March 2010: "Britain's biggest supermarket uses its chain of 639 One Stop convenience shops–which many customers do not realise it owns–to charge up to 14 per cent more for goods than it does in Tesco-branded shops."
Tesco responded to the article stating "It is a separate business within the Tesco Group, with its own supply chain and distribution network. One Stop shops offer a different range to Express shops and its operating costs are different. One Stop's price strategy is to match to its nearest competitor,
Costcutter
Costcutter Supermarkets Group is a business based in the United Kingdom and Ireland primarily operating as a symbol group supplier to various independently owned convenience shops and off-licences. It has operations in the United Kingdom, the ...
, and is frequently cheaper."
Jack's
In 2018, Tesco launched a separate budget chain,
Jack's, to compete with Lidl and Aldi; the first store opened in
Chatteris
Chatteris is a market town and civil parish in the Fenland district of Cambridgeshire, England, situated in The Fens between Huntingdon, March and Ely. The town is in the North East Cambridgeshire parliamentary constituency.
The parish of C ...
,
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...
in September 2018. In January 2022 Tesco announced it would be shutting down its Jack's stores, with stores either being closed or converted to Tesco Superstores.
Subsidiaries
Booker Group
Tesco completed its acquisition of the food wholesaler Booker in March 2018. Booker also owns the
Budgens
Budgens Stores Ltd, trading as Budgens, is a chain of grocery stores in the United Kingdom. The business was founded in 1872 by John Budgen, who opened the first shop in Maidenhead, Berkshire and was incorporated as a private limited company o ...
,
Londis,
Euro Shopper
Euro Shopper was a discount brand of everyday commodities developed and marketed by AMS Sourcing B.V. It was introduced to the market in 1996, and branded products have been sold by some of the AMS members in different countries in Europe sinc ...
and
Premier Stores
Premier is a symbol group in the United Kingdom with over 3,000 stores nationwide. Tesco took ownership of the brand in 2018 after its purchase of Booker Group.
Operations
All Premier shops are chain-store owned and run by retailers at a perc ...
brands which operate under franchises.
Tesco Bank
In the United Kingdom Tesco offers financial services through Tesco Bank, formerly a 50:50 joint venture with
The Royal Bank of Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS; gd, Banca Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a major retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest (in England and Wales) and Ulster Ba ...
. Products on offer include credit cards, loans, mortgages, savings accounts and several types of insurance, including car, home, life and travel. They are promoted by leaflets in Tesco's shops and through its website. The business made a profit of £130 million for the 52 weeks to 24 February 2007, of which Tesco's share was £66 million. This move towards the financial sector diversified the Tesco brand and provides opportunities for growth outside of the retailing sector. On 28 July 2008, Tesco announced that it would buy out the Royal Bank of Scotland's 50% stake in the company for £950 million.
F&F
F&F launched in 2001 as Florence & Fred in Tesco's UK and Ireland supermarkets. In 2010, the brand started to open stores in of itself starting with a London store. In the early to mid-2010s, it expanded to multiple countries stores and online.
In the UK, F&F had its own website until 2016 when it was folded into
Tesco Direct
Tesco Direct was a shopping catalogue and website operated by the British supermarket chain and retailer Tesco. It supplied non-food goods such as homeware and consumer products with delivery or in-store collection through collection points in ...
- which itself folded in August 2018. After this, F&F had no online UK presence until it partnered with
Next PLC
Next plc (styled as NEXT) is a British multinational clothing, footwear and home products retailer, which has its headquarters in Enderby, England. It has around 700 stores, of which circa 500 are in the United Kingdom, and circa 200 across Eu ...
a year later. Tesco launched a scaled down F&F on
Tesco.com
Tesco.com is an electronic commerce website operated by Tesco. It offers a wide range of other products, including electronic goods, books, broadband and financial services. Tesco closed their Tesco Direct website in 2018.
History
Tesco has ope ...
soon after its deal with Next.
Tesco Mobile
Tesco operates a mobile phone business across the United Kingdom, Ireland, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic. It first launched in the UK in 2003 as a joint venture with
O2 and operates as a
mobile virtual network operator
A mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) is a wireless communications services provider that does not own the wireless network infrastructure over which it provides services to its customers. An MVNO enters into a business agreement with a mobil ...
(MVNO) using the network of O2 with the exceptions of Hungary where the network of
Vodafone Hungary
Vodafone Hungary is the third largest mobile operator in Hungary. It started operations in 1999 after securing the third GSM 900/1800 MHz licence of the country and it was the first provider operating in the DCS-1800 band in Hungary. Vodafon ...
is used and Ireland where
Three Ireland
Three Ireland, officially Three Ireland (Hutchison) Limited (formerly Hutchison 3G Ireland Ltd), is a telecommunications and internet service provider operating in Ireland as a subsidiary of CK Hutchison, operating under the global Three bran ...
is used. As a virtual operator, Tesco Mobile does not own or operate its own network infrastructure. By January 2011 Tesco announced it had over 2.5 million UK mobile customers.
Tesco also operated a home telephone and broadband business. Its broadband service launched in August 2004 to complement its existing
internet service provider
An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...
business, providing an
ADSL
Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) is a type of digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. ...
-based service delivered via
BT phone lines. In January 2015, Tesco sold its home telephone and broadband business, together with
Blinkbox
TalkTalk TV Store (formerly blinkbox) was a UK-based transactional (purchase and rental) video-on-demand (VoD) service available on Macintosh and Microsoft Windows computers, games consoles, tablet computers and Smart TVs. Content is generally ...
, to TalkTalk for around £5 million. Its customers were transferred by 2016.
Tesco Tech Support
Tesco acquired a small I.T. support company called The PC Guys in 2007, and were able to launch Tesco Tech Support in December 2008.
Former operations
Tesco Home 'n' Wear
In the 1960s, Tesco set up a non-food division, Tesco Home 'n' Wear, headed by
Leslie Porter. It had stand-alone shops and departments in larger shops, and from 1975 a distribution centre in
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...
. Although Tesco continued to stock non-food items the stand-alone shops were closed and the name was no longer in use when Tesco Extra was launched.
Tesco Homeplus
In May 2005, Tesco announced a trial non-food only format near
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
and
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
, and the first shop opened in October 2005. The shops offered all of Tesco's ranges except food in warehouse-style units in retail parks. Tesco introduced the format as only 20% of its customers had access to a Tesco Extra, and the company was restricted in how many of its superstores it could convert into Extras and how quickly it could do so. Large units for non-food retailing are much more readily available. The format was not Tesco's first non-food only venture in the UK. Until the late 1990s/early 2000s there were several non-food Tesco shops around the country including Scarborough and Yate. Although not in a warehouse-style format, the shops were located on high streets and shopping centres, and stocked similar items to Homeplus shops. In both cases this was because another part of the shopping centre had a Tesco Superstore that stocked food items only. By 2014, the number of Homeplus shops in the United Kingdom had reached 12; the newest shop opened in Chester in July 2009. In 2012 it was reported that Tesco was looking to close the business to focus on groceries. Tesco closed six Homeplus shops on 15 March 2015,
and the remaining six shops closed on 27 June 2015.
Tesco Metro
Tesco Metro shops are sized between Tesco superstores and Tesco Express shops, with shops averaging . They are mainly located in town centres and similar urban locations and were designed to accommodate larger weekly shops as well as top-up shopping.
In May 2021, Tesco announced the brand would be retired as only 31% of customers were using the stores for larger shops. 89 locations will convert to the Tesco Express format while the remaining 58 will adopt the standard superstore format.
Dobbies Garden Centres
Dobbies
Dobbies Garden Centres (styled as Dobbies) is a British chain of garden centres based in Lasswade, Scotland. It is the biggest garden centre operator in the United Kingdom, operating over 75 stores, some of which it acquired from the previous bi ...
is a chain of garden centres across Scotland, England and Northern Ireland. Tesco completed its acquisition of Dobbies in 2008, and the company continued to trade under its own brand, from its own head office in Melville, near
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. On 17 June 2016, Tesco sold the company on to a group of investors led by Midlothian Capital Partners and Hattington Capital for £217 million.
Harris + Hoole
In 2012, Tesco invested in a new coffee shop chain, named Harris + Hoole after coffee-loving characters in
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...
' diary. Tesco took full ownership of the business from its founders Nick, Andrew and Laura Tolley in February 2016, and agreed in June 2016 to sell it to
Caffè Nero
Caffè Nero is an Italian-influenced coffeehouse company headquartered in London, England. Founded in 1997 by Gerry Ford, currently the company runs more than 1,000 coffee houses in eleven countries: the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Poland, Cyprus, Croat ...
.
Giraffe
Giraffe
The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa''. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, ''Giraffa camelopardalis ...
is a restaurant chain in the United Kingdom which Tesco purchased in March 2013 as part of a strategy of making use of excess space in its shops. Tesco sold the chain to
Boparan Holdings
Boparan Holdings Ltd is a company based in Birmingham, England, that owns food production and restaurant businesses. It is owned by Ranjit Singh Boparan and his wife, Baljinder Kaur Boparan. In March 2020, Boparan bought the Italian restaurant chai ...
in June 2016.
Euphorium Bakery
Euphorium Bakery opened a concession in Tesco's
Kensington
Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London.
The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...
shop in 2012, and in 2013 Tesco bought a stake in the business. It purchased the remaining stake in April 2015. In August 2016, Tesco sold Euphorium's high street shops and factory in
Islington
Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...
to Soho Coffee, and its factory in
Weybridge
Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as ''Waigebrugge'' and ''Weibrugge'' in the 7th century and the name derives from a crossing point of the ...
to
Samworth Brothers
Samworth Brothers is a British food manufacturer which produces a range of chilled and ambient foods, both own-label and branded. It is the owner of Cornish pasty maker Ginsters and malt loaf manufacturer Soreen, and is also known as a maker o ...
.
International operations
Tesco has expanded its operations from the United Kingdom to 11 other countries. Tesco pulled out of the United States in 2013, but continues to see growth elsewhere. Tesco's international expansion strategy has responded to the need to be sensitive to local expectations in other countries by entering into joint ventures with local partners, such as
Samsung Group
The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ' ...
in South Korea (
Samsung-Tesco
Homeplus () is a Korean discount store retail chain running about 140 branches with 25,000 employees throughout South Korea. Homeplus is the second largest retailer in South Korea, behind Shinsegae Group's e-mart chain.
Homeplus operates its ...
Home plus
Homeplus () is a Korean discount store retail chain running about 140 branches with 25,000 employees throughout South Korea. Homeplus is the second largest retailer in South Korea, behind Shinsegae Group's e-mart chain.
Homeplus operates its h ...
), and
Charoen Pokphand
The Charoen Pokphand Group Company, Ltd. (CP) (; ) is a Thai conglomerate based in Bangkok. It is Thailand's largest private company and the largest privately held Royal Warrant holder of the Thai Royal Family. The company describes itself as havi ...
in Thailand (
Tesco Lotus
Lotus's (formerly known as Lotus Supercenter, Tesco Lotus Supercenter and Tesco Lotus) is a retail chain in Thailand founded and operated by Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group, with operations in Malaysia following the acquisition of Tesco Malaysia in ...
), appointing a very high proportion of local personnel to management positions. It also makes small acquisitions as part of its strategy: for example, in its 2005/2006 financial year it made acquisitions in South Korea, one in Poland and one in Japan.
Overview Of Operations
The following table shows the number of stores, total store size in area and sales for Tesco's international operations. The store numbers and floor area figures are .
Former operations
Czech Republic
Tesco opened its first store in the Czech Republic in 1996 and now has over 300 stores, with further planned.
[
] Tesco opened its first stores in the Czech Republic by buying US corporation Kmart's operations in the country and converting them into Tesco stores. Tesco is also keen to expand non-food items and has already opened petrol stations and offers personal finance services in the Czech Republic.
France
Tesco owned a French food retailer called
Catteau Catteau is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Aloïs Catteau (1877–1939), Belgian road racing cyclist
* Charles Catteau (1880–1966), French Art Déco industrial designer
*Robert Catteau, namesake of the Athénée Robert Cat ...
between 1993 and 1997, which operated a chain of 92 stores in NE France under the Cedico, Hyper Cedico and Cedimarche banners. Tesco also operated a "Vin Plus" outlet in
Calais
Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...
, selling wine, beer and spirits, which closed on 30 August 2010, due to decline of the
booze cruise
In British slang, a booze cruise is a brief trip from Britain to France or Belgium with the intent of taking advantage of lower prices, and buying personal supplies of (especially) alcohol or tobacco in bulk quantities. This is a legally allowed ...
.
Hungary
Tesco launched in Hungary in 1994 (November 23) after purchasing a small local supermarket group trading as S-Market based in Szombathely, in the west of Hungary. It opened its first hypermarket in Hungary at the Polus Centre in Budapest in 1996. Tesco operates through more than 200 stores in Hungary with further openings planned.
Tesco Hungary also offers a clothing line and personal finance services.
Poland
Tesco entered the Polish market in 1995 acquiring local Polish supermarket chains- Minor, Madex and Savia and opened its first hypermarket in Wrocław Bielany in 1998. At the height of its operations in Poland the company operated from over 450 various format stores as well as an online shopping service. Tesco Poland offered a broad range of brands on the Polish market including its own branded line of products as well as regional produce, petrol, personal finance services and on-line
photo
A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now created ...
processing. In August 2008 Tesco opened the first Extra store in Poland located in
Częstochowa
Częstochowa ( , ; german: Tschenstochau, Czenstochau; la, Czanstochova) is a city in southern Poland on the Warta River with 214,342 inhabitants, making it the thirteenth-largest city in Poland. It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship (admin ...
. In November 2019, having suffered years of net losses and despite extensive cost-cutting and attempts at streamlining of its business model, Tesco announced its intent to sell all of its operations in Poland.
In 2020 Tesco Poland was bought by
Salling Group
Salling Group A/S (until 1 June 2018 Dansk Supermarked A/S) is Denmark's largest retailer, with a market share of 34.9%. It owns several chains of stores - Netto, Føtex, Bilka and Salling. All of these chains operate exclusively in Denmark exce ...
. Last remaining stores are set to close down on October 28, 2021.
Slovakia
Tesco Slovakia in 1996 as part of Tesco's international expansion aims. It now operates from 123 stores. Tesco Slovakia has recently put great emphasis on organic products. However, Tesco Slovakia caused controversy amongst the Slovak government when it was found to have come foul of
food safety laws
Food safety (or food hygiene) is used as a scientific method/discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent food-borne illness. The occurrence of two or more cases of a similar illness resulting from ...
in 2006. In April 2010 the first Tesco Extra in Central Europe opened in
Bratislava
Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...
–
Petržalka
Petržalka (; german: Engerau / Audorf; hu, Pozsonyligetfalu) is the largest borough of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Situated on the right bank of the river Danube, the area shares a land border with Austria, and is home to around 100,000 ...
, Slovakia as part of a pilot project for Tesco in the region, including the first self-service cash flow in Central Europe. There are currently seven Tesco Extra stores in Slovakia – three in Bratislava and one in
Zvolen
Zvolen (; hu, Zólyom; german: Altsohl) is a town in central Slovakia, situated on the confluence of Hron and Slatina rivers, close to Banská Bystrica. It is surrounded by Poľana mountain from the East, by Kremnické vrchy from the West an ...
,
Trnava
Trnava (, german: Tyrnau; hu, Nagyszombat, also known by other alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, to the northeast of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of a ''kraj'' (Trnava Region) and of an '' okres'' (Trna ...
,
Banská Bystrica
Banská Bystrica (, also known by other alternative names) is a middle-sized town in central Slovakia, located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Veľká Fatra, and the Kremnica Mo ...
and
Spišská Nová Ves
Spišská Nová Ves (; hu, Igló; german: (Zipser) Neu(en)dorf) is a town in the Košice Region of Slovakia. The town is located southeast of the High Tatras in the Spiš region, and lies on both banks of the Hornád River. It is the biggest tow ...
.
Ireland
Tesco first operated in the Irish grocery market in the early 1980s, selling its operations there in March 1986. Tesco re-entered the Irish market in 1997 after the purchase of Power Supermarkets Ltd. It now operates from 154 stores across Ireland. Like Tesco stores in the UK, these offer a home delivery shopping service available to 80% of the Irish population as well as petrol, mobile telephone, personal finance, flower delivery service and a weight-loss programme. Tesco's loyalty programme, Clubcard, is offered in the country. Tesco had approximately 21% of the Irish grocery market in 2019 and its main competitors are
Dunnes Stores
Dunnes Stores is an Irish multinational retail chain that primarily sells food, clothes and household wares.
In addition to its main customer base in Ireland, the chain also has operations in Spain, and formerly in England and Scotland. The fo ...
and
SuperValu.
Tesco Ireland claims to be the largest purchaser of Irish food with an estimated €1.5 billion annually. Tesco Ireland operates a number of Tesco Extra hypermarkets in Ireland, with Clarehall Extra on the
Malahide Road being the first to open in 2006. Tesco's largest hypermarket store in Europe, with a floorspace of , opened in
Dundalk
Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...
in
Co Louth
County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north and Down to th ...
in November 2010.
The country's
newspaper of record
A newspaper of record is a major national newspaper with large circulation whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered authoritative and independent; they are thus "newspapers of record by reputation" and include some of the o ...
the ''
Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'' in April 2011 said that "Increasingly, Ireland is being viewed as a provincial backwater by the parent company – albeit a very profitable little backwater – and all the strategic decisions are being taken in the UK.
In 2008 Tesco opened its first eco store in Tramore, Co. Waterford. It is expected to use 45% less energy than other Tesco supermarkets of similar size.
Spain (including Ibiza), Portugal and Gibraltar
Tesco supplies six stores to date in Spain (including Ibiza), Portugal and Gibraltar that operate under the name The Food Company. Operations started in 2019 with the first store opening in Puerto de Mazarrón located in the Murcia province of Spain. One other store opened in the Algarve, Portugal in 2019 followed by four more in 2020 in Gibraltar, Ibiza, Mijas (Malaga) and Quesada (Alicante). All 7500 Products stocked by The Food Company originate from Britain.
China
Tesco acquired a 50% stake in the Hymall chain, from
Ting Hsin
Ting Hsin International Group () is a Taiwanese-owned corporate group established in 1958. It owns various food brands such as the instant noodle maker Master Kong, Wei-Chuan Food Corporation and Dicos.
History Taipei 101 and noodles
The comp ...
in September 2004. In December 2006 it raised its stake to 90% in a £180 million deal.
[
] Most of Tesco China's stores are based around Shanghai, but according to Tesco it plans to equip the business to expand more quickly and in different areas.
Tesco has a large store in Weifang, Shandong province, and a further two floor store in Taizhou, Jiangsu province. The Tesco in Taizhou offers imported beers and spirits, some imported wines, and Australian, French, Italian and Dutch cheese products. A Tesco Express in the Shanghai Old Street area is no different from a typical Chinese convenience store in both style and products on display.
Tesco has been increasing its own brand products into the
Chinese market
The People's Republic of China has an upper middle income developing mixed socialist market economy that incorporates economic planning through industrial policies and strategic five-year plans.
—Xu, Chenggang. "The Fundamental Instituti ...
as well as introducing the Tesco Express format.
In May 2014 Tesco made a deal with the state-run China Resources Enterprise (CRE) to create a joint venture, combining Tesco's 131 stores in the country with CRE's nearly 3000 outlets. With Tesco owning 20% of the business and CRE 80% this was now the largest food retailer in China.
In Feb 2020, Tesco announced that it would exit the China market by selling the 20% stake to CRE for £275 million and the transaction would be completed by 28 February 2020.
India
Tesco has had a limited presence in India with a service centre in
Bangalore
Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
, and outsourcing. In 2008 Tesco announced their intention to invest an initial £60m ($115m) to open a wholesale cash-and-carry business based in Mumbai with the assistance of the
Tata Group
The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest conglomerate, with products and services in over 150 countries, and operations in 100 countries across six continent ...
. In 2014, the joint venture between Tesco and Tata was confirmed, where investment by the earlier was reportedly 140 million dollars, thus becoming the first foreign supermarket to enter the country. The stores are now operated under the banner Star Bazaar and Star Daily supermarkets.
Japan
Tesco Japan first began operations in 2003.
It was brought about by a buy-out of C Two stores for £139 million in July 2003 and later Fre'c in April 2004. Tesco has adopted an approach that focuses on small corner shops that operate similarly to its Express format, rather than opening hypermarkets. It has also launched its range of software in Japan.
In August 2011, Tesco announced that they would be selling off their Japanese stores to
ÆON
, commonly written AEON Co., Ltd., is a Japanese multinational holding company of ÆON Group. It has its headquarters in Mihama-ku, Chiba, Chiba Prefecture.[Greater Tokyo Area
The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan (including Tokyo Metropolis and the prefectures of Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Tochigi) as well as the ...]
were making a profit. Market share in the country was never above 1 percent.
Malaysia
Tesco opened its first store in Malaysia in May 2002 with the opening of its first hypermarket in
Puchong
Puchong is a major town and a parliamentary constituency in Petaling District, Selangor, Malaysia.
It is bordered by Subang Jaya in the north, Sepang and Putrajaya in the south, Serdang in the east and Putra Heights in the west.
History
The ...
,
Selangor
Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...
. Tesco Malaysia currently operates 49 Tesco and Tesco Extra stores. Tesco has partnered with local conglomerate
Sime Darby Berhad, which holds 30% of the shares.
Tesco Malaysia offers a value range, its own branded range, electronic goods, the loyalty clubcard and clothing. Tesco Malaysia's Clubcard introduced Green Clubcard Points in 2007 making Tesco Malaysia the first Tesco international business to introduce the Green Clubcard Points scheme.
In April 2013, Tesco Malaysia launched the Grocery Home Shopping Service, where it delivers groceries ordered via the Internet to consumers, with no minimum purchase imposed. There will be a RM10 service charge for each delivery and online customers may choose a delivery time slot from 10 am to 10 pm daily. Payment is made via credit or debit card. The service is currently offered to customers living within the 20 km radius of Tesco Extra outlets. The Malaysian operation of Tesco also includes a convenience store, Tesco Pernama Ekspres, which began operation in February 2015.
In 2020, Tesco agreed to sell its Malaysian business to the Thailand-based,
Charoen Pokphand Group
The Charoen Pokphand Group Company, Ltd. (CP) (; ) is a Thai conglomerate based in Bangkok. It is Thailand's largest private company and the largest privately held Royal Warrant holder of the Thai Royal Family. The company describes itself as havi ...
for US$10.6bn, including debt, a transaction that would be expected to be completed in the second half of 2020.
With this sale having been completed, Tesco has now changed its name to
Lotus's
Lotus's (formerly known as Lotus Supercenter, Tesco Lotus Supercenter and Tesco Lotus) is a retail chain in Thailand founded and operated by Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group, with operations in Malaysia following the acquisition of Tesco Malaysia in ...
.
Pakistan
On 16 February 2017 Tesco announced a wholesale partnership with Limestone Private Limited, owner of the Alpha Superstores chain. This involved an exclusive partnership which would see Tesco products stocked across Alpha Supermarket stores within Pakistan.
South Korea
Tesco launched its South Korean operations as "
Homeplus
Homeplus () is a Korean discount store retail chain running about 140 branches with 25,000 employees throughout South Korea. Homeplus is the second largest retailer in South Korea, behind Shinsegae Group's e-mart chain.
Homeplus operates its ...
" in 1999 and partnered with
Samsung
The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
. Tesco held 94% of the shares in the venture.
It operates both hypermarkets and its express format as well as a home delivery shopping service. It is the second largest retailer in South Korea, just behind
Shinsegae Group
Shinsegae (, ) is a South Korean department store franchise, along with several other businesses, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. The firm is an affiliate of Shinsegae Group, South Korea's leading retail chaebol, and one of the big three d ...
.
On 14 May 2008, Tesco agreed to purchase 36 hypermarkets with a combination of food and non-food products from
E-Land for $1.9 billion (£976 million) in its biggest single acquisition, making Tesco the second largest in the country. The majority of the E-Land stores formerly belonged to French retailer
Carrefour
Carrefour () is a French multinational retail and wholesaling corporation headquartered in Massy, France. The eighth-largest retailer in the world by revenue, it operates a chain of hypermarkets, groceries stores and convenience stores, which ...
before 2006 and most of the stores will be converted to Home plus outlets. Tesco's South Korean discount store chain, Home Plus, currently has 66 outlets.
In September 2015 the company was sold to
MBK Partners
MBK Partners (MBKP) is a North Asian focused private equity firm. According to Forbes, MBK Partners is one of the largest private equity firms in Asia, managing $25 billion worth of assets.
Overview
MBK Partners was founded in 2005 by Michael ...
, a South Korean buyout firm, which partnered with a Canadian pension fund and Singapore's
Temasek Holdings
Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited, or simply Temasek, is a Singaporean state holding company owned by the Government of Singapore. Incorporated on 25 June 1974, Temasek owns and manages a total of US$496.59 billion (S$671 billion) in assets u ...
in a transaction worth 4.2 billion pounds.
Thailand
Tesco Lotus Hypermarket in Thailand">Pathum Thani Thailand
Tesco entered Thailand in 1998 and operates through 380 stores as part of a joint venture with
Charoen Pokphand
The Charoen Pokphand Group Company, Ltd. (CP) (; ) is a Thai conglomerate based in Bangkok. It is Thailand's largest private company and the largest privately held Royal Warrant holder of the Thai Royal Family. The company describes itself as havi ...
and named the operation "
Tesco Lotus
Lotus's (formerly known as Lotus Supercenter, Tesco Lotus Supercenter and Tesco Lotus) is a retail chain in Thailand founded and operated by Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group, with operations in Malaysia following the acquisition of Tesco Malaysia in ...
". This partnership was dissolved in 2003 when Charoen Pokphand sold its shares to Tesco. Tesco Lotus sells a diverse range of products from value food products to electronics to personal finance services. The company is keen to promote its green values and has partnered with the
UNEP
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on th ...
. Tesco Lotus claims to serve 20 million customers every month and that 97% of its goods are sourced from Thailand.
By March 2013, Thailand operations were generating £3 billion in revenues and were one of the company's largest businesses outside of the UK.
Tesco agreed to sell its Thai business to Charoen Pokphand Group for $10.6bn, including debt. A transaction that would be expected to be completed in the second half of 2020.
With this sale having been completed, Tesco Lotus has now changed its name to
Lotus's
Lotus's (formerly known as Lotus Supercenter, Tesco Lotus Supercenter and Tesco Lotus) is a retail chain in Thailand founded and operated by Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group, with operations in Malaysia following the acquisition of Tesco Malaysia in ...
.
Turkey
Tesco entered the Turkish market in 2003 and uses the trading name "
Tesco Kipa
Kipa is a supermarket chain in Turkey, owned by Migros Türk since 2017. It was previously owned by the largest UK retailer, Tesco. The original company, Kitle Pazarlama A.Ş., was founded in August 1992 and opened its first Kipa store in Novembe ...
". Tesco remains focused on building infrastructure in Turkey to complete its expansion plans and introduced the Tesco Express format into Turkey in 2006. There are plans to increase the rate of expansion as basic infrastructure is built.
United States
Tesco entered the United States grocery market in 2007 through the opening of a new chain of convenience stores, named
Fresh & Easy, on the West Coast (Arizona, California and Nevada). The company established its U.S. headquarters in
El Segundo, California
El Segundo ( , ; ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located on Santa Monica Bay, it was incorporated on January 18, 1917, and is part of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments. The population was 16,731 as of th ...
, and the first store opened in
Hemet, California
Hemet is a city in the San Jacinto Valley in Riverside County, California. It covers a total area of , about half of the valley, which it shares with the neighboring city of San Jacinto. The population was 89,833 at the 2020 census.
The foundin ...
in November 2007, with 100 more planned in the first year; a store opening every two-and-a-half days. Although the planned rate of expansion was not maintained, largely because of the recession, by August 2011 Fresh & Easy operated 182 stores across Arizona, California and Nevada. In April 2013, Tesco put the Fresh & Easy chain on sale, booking losses of £1.2bn. It announced the sale of 150 of the stores in the 200-strong chain to private equity firm
Yucaipa Companies
The Yucaipa Companies, LLC is an American private equity firm founded in 1986 by Ronald Burkle. It specializes in private equity and venture capital, with a focus on middle-market companies, growth capital, industry consolidation, leveraged buy ...
in September 2013.
The
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...
reported that the remaining stores were expected to close.
The deal included Tesco loaning the venture £80m and retaining an option to buy back a stake in the business if Yucaipa succeeded in turning around the group's performance.
The last Fresh & Easy store closed in 2015.
pulled off a trick that I'm not aware of any other retailer achieving. That is to appeal to all segments of the market". One plank of this strategy has been Tesco's use of its own-brand products, including the upmarket "Finest", mid-range Tesco brand and low-price "Value" encompassing several product categories such as food, beverage, home, clothing, Tesco Mobile and financial services. Tesco have two vegan ranges branded "Plant Chef" and "Wicked Kitchen".
Beginning in 1997 when Terry Leahy took over as CEO, Tesco began marketing itself using the phrase "The Tesco Way" to describe the company's core purposes, values, principles, and goals This phrase became the standard marketing speak for Tesco as it expanded domestically and internationally under Leahy's leadership, implying a shift by the company to focus on people, both customers and employees.
A core part of the Tesco expansion strategy has been its innovative use of technology. It was one of the first to build self-service tills and use cameras to reduce queues, and an early adopter of
card technology. In 2016, Tesco developed a mobile payment wallet, PayQwiq using both NFC contactless and
technology to allow payment using mobile phones in-shop (along with supporting other contactless mobile wallets such as
).
All figures below are for the Tesco financial years, which run for 52- or 53-week periods to late February.