Tesco From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search For other uses, see Tesco (disambiguation). Tesco PLC Type Public limited company Traded as LSE: TSCO ISEQ: TCO Industry Retailing 1919; 96 years ago Founded Hackney, London, England Founder Jack Cohen New Tesco House Delamere Road Cheshunt Headquarters Hertfordshire EN8 9SL England Number of 6,784 stores (As of March locations 2014) (see table below) Area served Worldwide Sir Richard Broadbent Key people (Chairman) Dave Lewis (Group CEO) Products Supermarket Hypermarket Superstore Revenue £62.284 billion (2015)[1] Operating -£5.792 billion (2015)[1] income Net income -£5.766 billion (2015)[1] Total equity £7.071 billion (2015)[1] Number of 500,000 (2015)[2] employees Tesco Stores Ltd. Tesco Bank Tesco Mobile Tesco Ireland Dobbies Garden Centres Subsidiaries Tesco Family Dining Ltd. Giraffe Restaurants Dunnhumby Oakwood Distribution Ltd. Website www.tesco.com Tesco PLC is a British multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom.[3] It is the third largest retailer in the world measured by profits[4][5] and second-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues. It has stores in 12 countries across Asia and Europe and is the grocery market leader in the UK (where it has a market share of around 28.4%), Ireland, Hungary,[6] Malaysia, and Thailand.[7][8] Tesco was founded in 1919 by Jack Cohen as a group of market stalls.[9] The Tesco name first appeared in 1924, after Cohen purchased a shipment of tea from T. E. Stockwell and combined those initials with the first two letters of his surname,[10] and the first Tesco store opened in 1929 in Burnt Oak, Barnet. His business expanded rapidly, and by 1939 he had over 100 Tesco stores across the country.[11] Originally a UK-focused grocery retailer, since the early 1990s Tesco has increasingly diversified geographically and into areas such as the retailing of books, clothing, electronics, furniture, toys, petrol and software; financial services; telecoms and internet services. The 1990s saw Tesco reposition itself, from its perception as a downmarket "pile 'em high, sell 'em cheap" retailer, to one which appeals across a wide social group, from its "Tesco Value" (launched 1993[9]) to its "Tesco Finest" ranges. This was successful, and saw the chain grow from 500 stores in the mid- 1990s to 2,500 stores fifteen years later.[12] Tesco is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It had a market capitalization of approximately £18.1 billion as of 22 April 2015, the 28th-largest of any company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange.[13] Contents [hide] 1 History o 1.1 Origins o 1.2 Expansion o 1.3 Diversification o 1.4 Restructuring 2 Operations o 2.1 Tesco Superstores o 2.2 Tesco Metro o 2.3 Tesco Express o 2.4 Tesco Extra o 2.5 One Stop o 2.6 Tesco Homeplus o 2.7 Internet retailing o 2.8 Tesco Clubcard o 2.9 Petrol stations 3 Subsidiaries o 3.1 Tesco Bank o 3.2 Telecoms o 3.3 Tesco Tech Support o 3.4 Dobbies Garden Centres o 3.5 Harris + Hoole o 3.6 Tesco Family Dining Ltd 4 International operations 5 Corporate affairs o 5.1 Corporate strategy o 5.2 Financial performance o 5.3 Market share o 5.4 Corporate social responsibility 6 Advertising 7 Criticism o 7.1 Litigation o 7.2 Price-fixing o 7.3 Corporate tax structure o 7.4 Opposition to expansion o 7.5 Halal in UK stores o 7.6 Horse meat found in burgers o 7.7 Slavery in Thailand o 7.8 Sale of goods from Israel o 7.9 Mothballing of new stores 8 See also 9 References 10 Further reading 11 External links History[edit] Origins[edit] 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.[10] 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 first three letters of the supplier's name (TES), and the first two letters of his surname (CO), forming the word TESCO.[10] The first Tesco store was opened in 1929 in Burnt Oak, Edgware, Middlesex. Tesco was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1947 as Tesco Stores (Holdings) Limited.[10] The first self-service store opened in St Albans in 1956 (which remained operational until 2010 before relocating to a larger premises on the same street, with a period as a Tesco Metro),[14] and the first supermarket in Maldon in 1956.[10] In 1961 Tesco Leicester made an appearance in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest store in Europe.[9] Expansion[edit] During the 1950s and the 1960s Tesco grew organically, and also through acquisitions, until it owned more than 800 stores. The company purchased 70 Williamson's stores (1957), 200 Harrow Stores outlets (1959), 212 Irwins stores (1960, beating Express Dairies' Premier Supermarkets to the deal), 97 Charles Phillips stores (1964) and the Victor Value chain (1968) (sold to Bejam in 1986).[15] Jack Cohen's business motto was "pile it high and sell it cheap",[16] 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.[16] A branch of Tesco built inside the Hoover Building in Perivale, London (now a listed building) In May 1987, Tesco completed its hostile takeover of the Hillards chain of 40 supermarkets in the North of England for £220 million.[17] In 1994, the company took over the supermarket chain William Low, successfully fighting off Sainsbury's for control of the Dundee-based firm, which operated 57 stores. This paved the way for Tesco to expand its presence in Scotland, which was weaker than in England. Tesco introduced a loyalty card, branded 'Clubcard', 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 store signage was changed from the familiar "typewriter" font that had been used since the 1970s. The same year saw the introduction of overseas operations.[9] Terry Leahy assumed the role of Chief Executive on 21 February 1997, the appointment having been announced on 21 November 1995.[18][19] On 21 March 1997 Tesco announced the purchase of the retail arm of Associated British Foods, which consisted of the Quinnsworth, Stewarts and Crazy Prices chains in the Ireland and Northern Ireland, plus associated businesses, for £640 million.[20] The deal was approved by the European Commission on 6 May 1997.[21] This acquisition gave it both a major presence in (and marked a return to) the Republic of Ireland and a larger presence in Northern Ireland than Sainsbury's, which had begun its move into Northern Ireland in 1995. 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 Clubcards modified to withdraw money from cash machines.[22] Diversification[edit] The first ever self-service Tesco store in St Albans, Hertfordshire which has since relocated In July 2001 Tesco became involved in internet grocery retailing in the USA when it obtained a 35% stake in GroceryWorks.[23] In 2002 Tesco purchased 13 HIT hypermarkets in Poland. It also made a major move into the UK convenience store market with its purchase of T & S Stores, owner of 870 convenience stores in the One Stop, Dillons and Day & Nite chains in the UK.[24] In June 2003 Tesco purchased the C Two-Network in Japan.[25] It also acquired a majority stake in Turkish supermarket chain Kipa.[26] In January 2004 Tesco acquired Adminstore, owner of 45 Cullens, Europa, and Harts convenience stores, in and around London.[27] In Thailand, Tesco Lotus was a joint venture of the Charoen Pokphand Group and Tesco, but facing criticism over the growth of hypermarkets CP Group sold its Tesco Lotus shares in 2003. In late 2005 Tesco acquired the 21 remaining Safeway/BP stores after Morrisons dissolved the Safeway/BP partnership.[28] In mid-2006 Tesco purchased an 80% stake in Casino's Leader Price supermarkets in Poland, which were then rebranded as small Tesco stores.[29] On 9 February 2006, Tesco announced that it planned to move into the United States by opening a chain of small format grocery stores in the Western states (Arizona, California and Nevada) in 2007 named Fresh & Easy.[30] It had plans for rapid growth – after a pause in the second quarter of 2008, the opening program recommenced and over 200 stores were opened in Arizona, California, and Nevada by December 2012. In 2010, Tesco started funding a small film studio intended to produce Tesco exclusive direct-to- films. The first film was released on 6 September called Paris Connections, based on a popular novel by Jackie Collins.[31][32] Restructuring[edit] Tesco confirmed in April 2013 that it was pulling out of the US market (Fresh & Easy Stores), at a reported cost of £1.2 billion.[33] In September 2013, Tesco announced they would sell the business to Ronald Burkle's Yucaipa Companies for an undisclosed amount.[34] Tesco retained the Fresh & Easy brand in the UK - applying it instead to certain convenience food products.