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How It All Began…
- The story of Tesco began in 1919 when Jack Cohen sold groceries from a stall in the East End of London.
- The Tesco name came into use in the 1920’s when Jack and his partner, took TES from TE Stockwell and CO from Cohen to coin what is now a household name.
From Market stalls…To Open-Fronted Shops
- By the late 1920’s Jack Cohen was switching his attention from market stalls to open-fronted shops in London high streets.
‘Fruit and Veg.’ Man
- He was also responsible for creating central warehousing facilities and purchasing land for growing fruit and vegetables.
- When the second World War started in 1939, he had 100 stores and since the 1940’s Tesco had continued to grow steadily.
- Jack Cohen died in 1979.
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"Making UK Food Retailing the Best In The World"
- Lord MacLaurin became chairman of the company in 1985, succeeding Sir Leslie Porter
- He retired in 1997, having served as chairman of Tesco for 12 years, once described as "being responsible for transforming Tesco into the country’s leading food retailer and for making UK food retailing the best in the world".
- He began his retailing career 38 years beforehand, when Tesco founder the late Jack Cohen offered him a traineeship.
Going Forward
- Following Lord McLaurin’s retirement from Tesco he continues to pursue several business interests, leaving the Tesco business in the hands of Terry Leahy who was appointed chief executive in 1997.
- Terry, who has been with Tesco since 1979, believes that " the biggest challenge for any business is to keep in touch with customers and be aware of how their needs are changing and be able to respond quickly to their changing needs."
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Today’s World
- With close on 600 stores, Tesco is the largest food retailer in the United Kingdom, holding an estimated 15% share of the total market.
- Tesco’s success is based on the principles of innovation, high standards of customer service and a firm policy of listening to our customers and acting on what you say.
- Tesco’s stores are designed to suit local environments. They range from large superstores to neighbourhood supermarkets, Tesco Metros in city and town centres and Tesco Express outlets, consisting of petrol stations with convenience stores attached.
- The new Tesco Extra format combines all the qualities of a superstore, together with new non-food departments.
- You can visit the Tesco plc site (for the UK and the Group) at www.tesco.co.uk
- To find out more about Tesco World wide, click here.
Back to The Future…
- The retail grocery market is intensely competitive and no serious contender can afford to rest on its past achievements. This has encouraged Tesco to pioneer many new ideas
- By listening and responding to customer needs, Tesco will continue to bring in new ideas and services.
- It is fifty years since Jack Cohen opened his first self- service shop, and we expect Tesco stores in fifty years time to be as different from those we know today as our current stores are to the stores of fifty years ago.
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