Tesco FFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation,, search For other uses, see Tesco (disambiguation).. T Tesco PLC Type Public limited company Traded as L!:: TC" #!$:: TC" Industry %etailing &'&'( ') years ago Founded *ackney,, London, !ngland Founder Jack Cohen +e Tesco *ouse -elamere %oad Cheshunt Headquarters *ertfordshire !+. 'L !ngland Number of ),/.0 stores 12s of 3arch locations 45&06 1see table below66 Area served Worldide •• ir %ichard 7roadbent Key people 1Chairman6 -ave Leis 18roup C!"6 Products upermarket *ypermarket uperstore Revenue 9)44.0 billion 145&;6<&= Operating >9;/'4 billion 145&;6<&= income Net income >9;/)) billion 145&;6<&= Total equity 9/5/& billion 145&;6<&= Number of ;55,555 145&;6 <4= employees T Tesco tores Ltd Tesco 7ank Tesco 3obile Tesco #reland -obbies 8arden Centres ubsidiaries T Tesco Family -ining Ltd 8ira?e %estaurants -unnhumby "akood -istribution Ltd !ebsite tescocom Tesco P"# is a 7ritish multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer head@uartered in Cheshunt,, *ertfordshire, !ngland, Anited Bingdom<= #t is the third largest retailer in the orld measured by proDts<0=<;= and second>largest retailer in the orld measured by revenues #t has stores in &4 countries across 2sia and !urope and is the grocery market leader in the AB 1here it has a market share of around 4.0E6, #reland,, *ungary,,<)= 3alaysia, and Thailand</=<.= T Tesco as founded in &'&' by Jack Cohen as a group of market stalls<'= The Tesco name Drst appeared in &'40, after Cohen purchased a shipment of tea from T. E. Stockwell and combined those initials ith the Drst to letters of his surname, <&5= and the Drst Tesco store opened in &'4' in 7urnt "ak,, 7arnet *is business epanded rapidly, and by &'' he had over &55 Tesco stores across the country <&&= "riginally a AB>focused grocery retailer, since the early &''5s Tesco has increasingly diversiDed geographically and into areas such as the retailing of books, clothing, electronics, furniture, toys, petrol and softare( Dnancial services(( telecoms and internet services The &''5s sa TTesco reposition itself, from its perception as a donmarket Gpile Hem high, sell Hem cheapG retailer, to one hich appeals across a ide social group, from its GGTTesco IalueG 1launched &''<'=6 to its GTesco FinestG ranges This as successful, and sa the chain gro from ;55 stores in the mid> &''5s to 4,;55 stores Dfteen years later <&4= T Tesco is listed on the London tock !change and is a constituent of the FT! &55 #nde #t had a market capitaliation of approimately 9&.& billion as of 44 2pril 45&;, the 4.th>largest of any company ith a primary listing on the London tock !change<&= #ontents < <hide== •• & *istory oo && "rigins oo &4 !pansion oo & -iversiDcation oo &0 %estructuring •• 4 "perations oo 4& Tesco uperstores oo 44 Tesco 3etro oo 4 Tesco !press oo 40 Tesco !tra oo 4; "ne top oo 4) Tesco *omeplus oo 4/ #nternet retailing oo 4. Tesco Clubcard oo 4' Petrol stations •• ubsidiaries oo & Tesco 7ank oo 4 Telecoms oo Tesco Tech upport o 0 -obbies 8arden Centres o ; *arris K *oole o ) Tesco Family -ining Ltd • 0 #nternational operations • ; Corporate a?airs o ;& Corporate strategy o ;4 Financial performance o ; 3arket share o ;0 Corporate social responsibility • ) 2dvertising • / Criticism o /& Litigation o /4 Price>Ding o / Corporate ta structure o /0 "pposition to epansion o /; *alal in AB stores o /) *orse meat found in burgers o // lavery in Thailand o /. ale of goods from #srael o /' 3othballing of ne stores • . ee also • ' %eferences • &5 Further reading • && !ternal links History$edit% Origins$edit% Jack Cohen, the son of Jeish migrants from Poland, founded Tesco in &'&' hen he began to sell ar>surplus groceries from a stall at Well treet 3arket, *ackney, in the !ast !nd of London<&5= The Tesco brand Drst appeared in &'40 The name came about after Jack Cohen bought a shipment of tea from Thomas Edward Stockwell *e made ne labels using the Drst three letters of the supplierHs name 1T!6, and the Drst to letters of his surname 1C"6, forming the ord T!C" <&5= The Drst Tesco store as opened in &'4' in 7urnt "ak, !dgare, 3iddlese Tesco as oated on the London tock !change in &'0/ as Tesco tores 1*oldings6 Limited <&5= The Drst self>service store opened in t 2lbans in &';) 1hich remained operational until 45&5 before relocating to a larger premises on the same street, ith a period as a Tesco 3etro6,<&0= and the Drst supermarket in 3aldon in &';)<&5= #n &')& Tesco Leicester made an appearance in the 8uinness 7ook of %ecords as the largest store in !urope<'= &'pansion$edit% -uring the &';5s and the &')5s Tesco gre organically, and also through ac@uisitions, until it oned more than .55 stores The company purchased /5 Williamson's stores 1&';/6, 455 Harrow Stores outlets 1&';'6, 4&4 Irwins stores 1&')5, beating !press -airiesH Premier upermarkets to the deal6, '/ harles !hilli"s stores 1&')06 and the Iictor Ialue chain 1&').6 1sold to 7eMam in &'.)6<&;= Jack CohenHs business motto as Gpile it high and sell it cheapG,<&)= to hich he added an internal motto of GNC-7"N2G 1Nou CanHt -o 7usiness itting "n Nour 2rse6 hich he used to motivate his sales force <&)= 2 branch of Tesco built inside the *oover 7uilding in Perivale, London 1no a listed building6 #n 3ay &'./, Tesco completed its hostile takeover of the *illards chain of 05 supermarkets in the +orth of !ngland for 9445 million <&/= #n &''0, the company took over the supermarket chain William Lo, successfully Dghting o? ainsburyHs for control of the -undee>based Drm, hich operated ;/ stores This paved the ay for Tesco to epand its presence in cotland, hich as eaker than in !ngland Tesco introduced a loyalty card, branded HClubcardH, in &''; and later an #nternet shopping service #n &'') the typeface of the logo as changed to the current version ith stripe reections underneath, hilst the corporate font used for store signage as changed from the familiar GtyperiterG font that had been used since the &'/5s The same year sa the introduction of overseas operations <'= Terry Leahy assumed the role of Chief !ecutive on 4& February &''/, the appointment having been announced on 4& +ovember &''; <&.=<&'= "n 4& 3arch &''/ Tesco announced the purchase of the retail arm of 2ssociated 7ritish Foods, hich consisted of the $uinnsorth, tearts and Cray Prices chains in the #reland and +orthern #reland, plus associated businesses, for 9)05 million<45= The deal as approved by the !uropean Commission on ) 3ay &''/<4&= This ac@uisition gave it both a maMor presence in 1and marked a return to6 the %epublic of #reland and a larger presence in +orthern #reland than ainsburyHs, hich had begun its move into +orthern #reland in &''; The company as the subMect of a letter bomb campaign lasting Dve months from 2ugust 4555 to February 455& as a bomber calling himself GallyG sent letter bombs to Tesco customers and demanded Clubcards modiDed to ithdra money from cash machines<44= (iversi)cation$edit% The Drst ever self>service Tesco store in t 2lbans, *ertfordshire hich has since relocated #n July 455& Tesco became involved in internet grocery retailing in the A2 hen it obtained a ;E stake in 8roceryWorks<4= #n 4554 Tesco purchased & *#T hypermarkets in Poland #t also made a maMor move into the AB convenience store market ith its purchase of T O tores, oner of ./5 convenience stores in the "ne top, -illons and -ay O +ite chains in the AB<40= #n June 455 Tesco purchased the C To>+etork in Japan <4;= #t also ac@uired a maMority stake in Turkish supermarket chain Bipa<4)= #n January 4550 Tesco ac@uired 2dminstore, oner of 0; Cullens, !uropa, and *arts convenience stores, in and around London<4/= #n Thailand, Tesco Lotus as a Moint venture of the Charoen Pokphand 8roup and Tesco, but facing criticism over the groth of hypermarkets CP 8roup sold its Tesco Lotus shares in 455 #n late 455; Tesco ac@uired the 4& remaining afeay7P stores after 3orrisons dissolved the afeay7P partnership<4.= #n mid>455) Tesco purchased an .5E stake in CasinoHs Leader Price supermarkets in Poland, hich ere then rebranded as small Tesco stores <4'= "n ' February 455), Tesco announced that it planned to move into the Anited tates by opening a chain of small format grocery stores in the Western states 12riona, California and +evada6 in 455/ named Fresh O !asy <5= #t had plans for rapid groth Q after a pause in the second @uarter of 455., the opening program recommenced and over 455 stores ere opened in 2riona, California, and +evada by -ecember 45&4 #n 45&5, Tesco started funding a small Dlm studio intended to produce Tesco eclusive direct>to> Dlms The Drst Dlm as released on ) eptember called !aris onnections, based on a popular novel by Jackie Collins <&=<4= Restructuring$edit% Tesco conDrmed in 2pril 45& that it as pulling out of the A market 1Fresh O !asy tores6, at a reported cost of 9&4 billion <= #n eptember 45&, Tesco announced they ould sell the business to %onald 7urkleHs Nucaipa Companies for an undisclosed amount<0= Tesco retained the Fresh O !asy brand in the AB > applying it instead to certain convenience food products #n eptember 45&, Tesco launched its Drst>ever tablet computer, a seven>inch model called *udl<;= The Tesco *udl 4 has since been released "n & eptember 45&0, -ave Leis 1previously of Anilever6 took over as C!" <)= #n January 45&;, Leis announced plans to close the companyHs head oRce in Cheshunt in the near future, as ell as 0 loss>making stores and the cancellation of 0' ne large supermarkets hich ill not go ahead as originally intended </= The store closures