The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Tesco takes on Lidl and Aldi with new discount store Jack’s
Tesco hopes new brand will reclaim market share
Tesco has launched its new discount store format called Jack’s as it attempts to take the fight to German discounters Aldi and Lidl.
Britain’s biggest retailer will open its first two Jack’s stores on Thursday in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, and Immingham, north-east Lincolnshire.
Up to 15 stores will open over the next year, with five existing Tesco properties being repurposed and the remainder being new outlets.
Most products will be Jack’s own brand and the chain will have 2,600 lines.
Chief executive Dave Lewis, speaking in Chatteris, said: “(Tesco’s founder) Jack Cohen championed value for customers and changed the face of British shopping. He’s an inspiration for all of us and that same spirit still drives Tesco now.
“It’s fitting that today, we mark the beginning of Tesco’s celebration of 100 Years of Great Value by launching a new brand, and stores bearing his name: Jack’s.”
It comes after the UK’s so-called Big Four supermarkets – Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons – are taking a hammering at the hands of Lidl and Aldi.
The German duo have eaten up the giants’ market share by offering products to UK customers at knockdown prices.
Tesco is Britain’s grocery market leader with a share of 27.4%.
Meanwhile Aldi and Lidl have increased their combined share to 13.1%, according to the Kantar Worldpanel data.
Tesco said that eight out of 10 Jack’s food and drink products will be “grown, reared or made” in Britain and stores will stock an own-brand range, also branded Jack’s.
It will operate a “low-cost business model” designed to keep costs low and prices down.
The launch of Jack’s is part of Tesco’s centenary celebrations which will see the business mark 100 years in 2019.