Tesco plc is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, 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, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. It is the market leader of groceries in the UK.
Safeway is a British groceries brand, and former chain of supermarkets and convenience shops. Founded in 1962 by the American Safeway Inc., before being sold to Argyll Foods in 1987. It was later listed on the London Stock Exchange. It was purchased by Morrisons in March 2004. Most of its 479 shops were rebranded as Morrisons, with others being sold. The brand disappeared from the United Kingdom on 24 November 2005.
Wm Morrison Supermarkets Ltd., 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, and one in Gibraltar. The company is headquartered in Bradford, England.
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, trading as "Quinnsworth" and "Crazy Prices". There are 152 Tesco stores in operation in Ireland as of August 2018. Tesco had approximately 21% of the Irish grocery market in 2019 and its main competitors are Dunnes Stores and SuperValu.
SuperValu is a supermarket chain that operates on the island of Ireland. SuperValu is operated as a symbol group; each store is independently owned, with store owners using the SuperValu format and selling the chain's own brand products. SuperValu outlets tend to be larger than the convenience shop formats used by many other symbol group retailers such as Centra, Gala and Spar, and the larger SuperValu stores are on a par with full-service supermarkets. Their main competitors are Dunnes Stores and Tesco.
SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational franchise that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, and as of 2021 consists of 13,623 stores in 48 countries.
Makro is a Dutch international brand of warehouse clubs, also called cash and carry stores. Makro was founded by SHV Holdings, a Dutch conglomerate based in Utrecht in partnership with German company Metro AG, with the first warehouse club opened in Amsterdam in 1968. Currently, ownership of the worldwide chain of stores is split between different companies like Metro AG in Europe, SHV Holdings in Latin America and CP All in Asia. In many countries, access to stores is restricted to business customers, and the stores are not open to the general public.
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 on 28 May 1962. The company is a subsidiary and retail fascia of Booker Group, part of Tesco plc.
Lotus's 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 2020.
In the Republic of Ireland, the retail sector provides one of the largest sources of employment in the economy, representing over 12% of the workforce. As of 2017, approximately 40,000 wholesale and retail businesses employed almost 280,000 people in Ireland, with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment reporting that 90% of these businesses were Irish-owned.
Booker Group Limited is a British wholesale distributor, and subsidiary of Tesco.
Criticism has been directed at Tesco from various groups, including national organisations, trade bodies, individuals, consumer groups and watchdogs, particularly since the early 2000s.
Happy Shopper is a brand of budget-priced groceries and household products that is sold in the United Kingdom. The brand was originally owned by cash and carry company Nurdin and Peacock, who were subsequently acquired by Booker Group in November 1996. Happy Shopper products are sold in discount stores, convenience stores, and other retail outlets throughout the country.
In the United Kingdom, it is common practice for retailers to have their own value brand in an effort to compete on price. These brands have become more popular in the UK with shoppers since the Great Recession caused food prices to rise.
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 in South Korea, and Charoen Pokphand in Thailand, 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.
Londis is a symbol group in the United Kingdom with over 2,000 stores nationwide. Tesco owns the brand, following its 2018 purchase of Booker Group.
Jack's was a British discount supermarket chain based in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, owned by Tesco.
