Tesco

Tesco Logo

Tesco in sixty-thousandths of Tomaszów Mazowiecki in Poland

Tesco is a multinational retailer owned by Tesco PLC from the United Kingdom. It was started by Jack Cohen in 1919 . He had a stall at Well Street Market, in Hackney. He opened the first Tesco grocery store in 1931 in Edgware. His business grew very quickly and there were 100 Tesco stores by 1939. Jack Cohen's business motto was "pile it high and sell it cheap".^[1]

At first, Tesco only sold food in its stores, but in the 1990s it began to sell other things like mobile phones, DVDs and videos, clothing, and books. It now also operates petrol stations, banks, and is an Internet service provider in the UK since 2012.

There are different brands of Tesco stores, which are all different sizes. They go from small convenience stores to large hypermarkets. With more than 3,000 stores in the UK alone, it is one of the biggest retailers in the country. Tesco's website was also one of the first to let people buy things from the Internet.

The company that owns Tesco is called Tesco plc (public limited company) and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. It has opened stores in other countries within Europe and Asia. Countries with Tesco stores include Ireland, Hungary, Malaysia, and Thailand. Today, Tesco is the third-largest retailer in the world when measured by profit and the fifth-largest by revenue.

Tesco Media

A branch of Tesco in Crediton
Tesco in Tiverton, Devon, showing the former logo
The first self-service Tesco shop in St Albans, Hertfordshire. The shop has since relocated.
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Countries served by Tesco stores: Currently operating Previously operated
Tesco Extra store in Woolwich, southeast London, 2015
Tesco store in Tiverton in November 2005
A 24-hour Tesco petrol station
Tesco Metro in Cross Gates, Leeds (closed 2016)