Management at Tesco :: Business Management Studies

Management at TescoIntroductiontwentiesTesco was founded in 1924, when T.E. Stockwell, a partner in a firm ofteatime suppliers, and Sir Jack Cohen came together. Legend has it thatSir Jack Cohen used his gratuity from his Army service of process in the FirstWorld War to start selling groceries in Londons East End marts in1919. The brand name of Tesco came from the initials of T.E. Stockwelland first 2 letters of Cohen. The first Tesco set up was candid in1929 in burn Oak, Edgware.1930sSelf-service supermarkets first undefended in the USA in the 1930s, duringthe depression. They soon realized that by selling a wider variety and larger volume of stock, and employing fewer staff, they could offerlower prices to the public. The Tesco business prospered and grew inthe geezerhood between the war.1940sIn 1947 Tesco Stores (Holdings) Ltd was floated on the Stock Exchange,with a constituent price of 25. The price at the beginning of February2002 was around 2.42. Self-service barge ins came to Britain subsequently theSecond World War, and Jack Cohen opened the first Tesco self-servicestore in St Albans in 1948.1950sIn 1956 the first Tesco self-service supermarket was opened in aconverted cinema in Maldon.1960sBy the early 1960s, Tesco had become a familiar name. As well asgroceries, the stores sold fresh food, clothing and mob goods.The Tesco store, which opened in Leicester in 1961, had 16, five hundred squarefeet of selling space and went into the Guinness Book of Records asthe largest store in Europe. During this period, Tesco introducedtrading stamps so that it could bring lower prices to its customers.Tesco introduced the ideal of the superstore in 1967 when it openeda 90,000 square feet store in Westbury, Wiltshire. The superstorewas a bran-new concept in retailing and the term was first used when Tescoopened its store in Crawley, West Sussex, in 1968.1970sBy 1970, Tesco was a household name, its reputation built on providingbasic groceries at very agonistical prices. But as people becomebetter off, they looked for more expensive luxury items. In the late1970s the company decided to bump off its stores more attractive to awider range of customers. Tesco introduced more superstores, whichsold a broader range of goods, and had wider aisles and betterlighting. In one year, in the late 1970s, the Tesco market shareincreased from 7% to 12% and, in 1979, its annual employee turnover reached 1billion for the first time.1980sDuring the 1980s, Tesco continued to build new superstores, openingits 100th in 1985. In 1987 it announced a 500 million programme to