Tesco
Tesco plc (/ˈtɛs.koʊ/) is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England.[8] In 2011, it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues[9][10] and the ninth-largest in the world measured by revenues. It has shops in Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. It is the market leader of groceries in the UK (where it has a market share of around 28.4%).[11][12]
This article is about the British multinational corporation. For other uses, see Tesco (disambiguation).Formerly
1919
Hackney, London, England, UK
Tesco House, Shire Park, Kestrel Way, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England, UK
4,673 (2021)[3]
- John Allan (Chairman)[4]
- Ken Murphy (CEO)[5]
- One Stop
- F&F
- Paperchase
- Booker
- Makro
- Premier
£65.762 billion (2023)[6]
£2.630 billion (2023)[6]
£0.744 billion (2023)[6]
£12,725 billion (2023)[6]
£12,230 billion (2023)[6]
330,000 (2024)[7]
- Tesco Stores Ltd.
- Tesco Bank
- Tesco Mobile
- Tesco Ireland
- Tesco Family Dining Ltd.
- Dunnhumby
- Spenhill
- Booker Group
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 as of 2018 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, telecoms 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[13]) and premium "Tesco Finest" range.
Tesco is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
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.[14] 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.[14]
After experimenting with his first permanent indoor market stall at Tooting in November 1930, Jack Cohen opened the first Tesco shop in September 1931 at 54 Watling Avenue, Burnt Oak, Edgware, Middlesex.[15][16][17] Tesco was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1947 as Tesco Stores (Holdings) Limited.[14] The first self-service shop opened in St Albans in 1956 (which remained operational until 2010 before relocating to larger premises on the same street, with a period as a Tesco Metro),[18] and the first supermarket in Maldon in 1956.[14]
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. 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.[92][93][94]
Tesco Homeplus
In May 2005, Tesco announced a trial non-food only format near Manchester and Aberdeen,[95] 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.[96] Tesco closed six Homeplus shops on 15 March 2015,[97] and the remaining six shops closed on 27 June 2015.[98]
Former international operations
China
Tesco acquired a 50% stake in the Hymall chain, from Ting Hsin in September 2004. In December 2006 it raised its stake to 90% in a £180 million deal.[127] Most of Tesco China's stores were based around Shanghai. Tesco had a large store in Weifang, Shandong province, and a further two-floor store in Taizhou, Jiangsu province. Tesco had been increasing its own brand products into the Chinese market as well as introducing the Tesco Express format.[128] 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 3,000 outlets. With Tesco owning 20% of the business and CRE 80% this became the largest food retailer in China.[129] In February 2020, Tesco announced that it would exit the China market by selling the 20% stake to CRE for £275 million.[130]
France
Tesco owned a French food retailer called Catteau between 1993 and 1997, which operated a chain of 92 stores[131] in NE France under the Cedico, Hyper Cedico, and Cedimarche banners. Tesco also operated a "Vin Plus" outlet in Calais, selling wine, beer, and spirits, which closed on 30 August 2010, due to the decline of the booze cruise.[132]
Japan
Tesco Japan first began operations in 2003.[133] 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.[134] 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.[112] In August 2011, Tesco announced that they would be selling off their Japanese stores to ÆON after revealing that only half of the stores in the Greater Tokyo Area were making a profit.[135] Market share in the country was never above 1 percent.[133]
