Hillards

Last updated

Hillards plc
Type Public
Industry Retail
Founded1885;139 years ago (1885)
FounderJohn Wesley Hillard
Defunct1987;37 years ago (1987)
FateAcquired and merged into Tesco
Successor Tesco
Headquarters Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire
Key people
Peter Hartley (Executive Chairman)
Products Groceries

Hillards plc was a small supermarket chain from the North of England, bought out in a hostile takeover by Tesco in May 1987.

Contents

History

Hillards in Ilkley in 1983. Train, Ilkley (1983) (geograph 2797818).jpg
Hillards in Ilkley in 1983.

The company was founded by John Wesley Hillard in 1885, in the West Yorkshire town of Cleckheaton. [1] The first shop was opened in Lion Chambers there, and shortly after 1900, there were twenty shops operating as Lion Stores. [1] By 1951, there were over seventy stores, and by 1968, it had warehouse size stores in Wakefield, Lincoln and York. [1]

In 1970, the trade name Lion Stores was dropped in favour of Hillards and in 1972, the company was first listed on the London Stock Exchange. [1] Peter Hartley, a grandson of the founder, became executive chairman in 1983 and in May 1987, following a hostile bid, the business was acquired by Tesco for £220m. [2] [3] [4]

Related Research Articles

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 Limited is a British groceries brand, and former chain of supermarkets and convenience shops. The British Safeway was 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. Safeway-branded shops disappeared from the United Kingdom on 24 November 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morrisons</span> British supermarket chain

Wm Morrison Supermarkets Limited, 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.

J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales in September 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waitrose</span> British supermarket chain owned by John Lewis Partnership

Waitrose Limited, trading as Waitrose & Partners, is a brand of British supermarkets, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. It was acquired in 1937 by employee-owned retailer John Lewis Partnership, which still sells groceries under the brand. Its head offices are located in Bracknell, Berkshire.

John Davan Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Preston Candover, was a British businessman and politician. He served as the President of Sainsbury's, and sat in the House of Lords as a life peer and member of the Conservative Party.

Somerfield was a chain of small to medium-sized supermarkets operating in the United Kingdom. The company also previously owned the Kwik Save chain of discount food stores. The company was taken over by the Co-operative Group on 2 March 2009 in a £1.57 billion deal, creating the UK's fifth-largest food retailer. The Somerfield name was replaced by the Co-operative brand in a rolling programme of store conversions ending in summer 2011.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stop & Shop</span> American regional supermarket chain in Northeastern United States owned by Ahold Delhaize

The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company, known as Stop & Shop, is a regional chain of supermarkets located in the northeastern United States. From its beginnings in 1892 as a small grocery store, it has grown to include 406 stores chain-wide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lotus's</span> Retail chain in Thailand and Malaysia

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fine Fare</span> Former chain of supermarkets in the UK

Fine Fare was a chain of supermarkets which operated in the United Kingdom from 1951 until 1988. Their Yellow Pack budget own-label range, introduced in 1980, was the first own brand basic ranges to be introduced in the UK and in 1983 it was the first supermarket to sell organic food. Fine Fare and its subsidiaries were rebranded to Gateway Foodmarkets in the late 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fresh & Easy</span> Former chain of grocery stores in the western United States

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market was a chain of grocery stores in the Western United States, headquartered in El Segundo, California. It was a subsidiary of Tesco, the world's third largest retailer, based in the United Kingdom, until November 2013 when it was purchased by Yucaipa Companies. It had plans for rapid growth – the first stores opened in November 2007 and, after a pause in the second quarter of 2008, the opening program recommenced. While there were over 200 stores in Arizona, California, and Nevada by December 2012, Tesco confirmed in April 2013 that it was pulling out of the US market, at a reported cost of £1.2 billion. On September 10, 2013, Tesco announced they were transferring ownership and operations of more than 150 stores to supermarket-owner Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Companies group. At the beginning of October 2013, Fresh & Easy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in U.S. bankruptcy court. The sale cost Tesco £150m, taking the total cost of its failed US venture to nearly £2bn. On October 23, 2015, Yucaipa announced that it would close all Fresh & Easy stores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Food Fair</span> Former supermarket chain in the United States until 1978

Food Fair, also known by its successor name Pantry Pride, was a large supermarket chain in the United States. It was founded by Samuel N. Friedland, and his brother George I. Friedland who opened the first store in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in the late 1920s. As of 1957, Food Fair had 275 stores, and at its peak, the chain had more than 500 stores. Friedland's family retained control of the firm through 1978, when the chain entered bankruptcy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sainsbury's Local</span> UK chain of convenience stores

Sainsbury's Local is a chain of 770 convenience shops operated by the UK's second largest supermarket chain Sainsbury's.

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 "click-and-collect" service, where a customer collects an item they have ordered online, or as an order fulfillment platform for online sales. The format was initiated in the United Kingdom, and its popularity has also spread to France followed by the rest of the European Union and Russia, as well as to the United States.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack's (store)</span> 2018–2022 British discount supermarket chain

Jack's was a British discount supermarket chain based in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, owned by Tesco.

3 Guys was a New Zealand, Irish and US supermarket chain that operated between 1973 and 2003.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Hillards Charitable Trust". Archived from the original on 2 January 2007. Retrieved 8 September 2006.
  2. Clark, Tim (15 April 2008). "A history of Tesco: The rise of Britain's biggest supermarket". London: Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
  3. "TESCO profits are estimated to have risen". The Guardian p. 25. 17 March 1987.
  4. "THE TESCO camp in the takeover battle for Hillards". The Guardian p. 27. 29 April 1987.