Tesco's F&F flagship sticks to supermarket chic - Fashion - Fashion-news Tesco's F&F flagship sticks to supermarket chic Wednesday, 07 August 2013 OPINION_It has finally happened. Tesco is launching a flagship store for its F&F clothing brand in Central London. The flagship will be a 5,000 sq ft shop-in-shop housed within its Kensington superstore. This will be F&F's first foray into the capital following similar stores in Woolwich and Essex. While seeking to make it in one of London's most upmarket boroughs seems like an impressive move at first glance, in actual fact the move falls short of what F&F has the potential to achieve. Grocery association constrains fashion-forward agenda Instead in its current state, the F&F flagship, as a shop-in-shop, gives the impression of being further addition to Tesco's new and improved shopping experience, joining culinary additions like the Euphorium bakery and the Harris + Hoole coffee shop. But, as competition continues to intensify at the economy end of the market, in-store environments are playing a vital role in attracting consumers and driving sales.

While supermarket chains have managed to build strong positions in clothing in the UK thanks to their 'value-for- money' appeal, it is evident that selling clothes alongside grocery items makes it challenging to create a shopping environment which conveys a fashion-forward agenda. Apparel value sales through the grocery channel actually declined by 2 percent in 2012, while apparel specialists posted a gain of 5 percent, strengthening the case for F&F to launch a standalone store. Advertisement Fashion appeal built outside the UK While the brand already operates standalone stores, it has bucked the trend by building its fashion appeal outside its home market through locations in Eastern Europe and a franchise presence in the Middle East. Arguably, consumers in these markets are not as well acquainted with Tesco's supermarket image, hence providing a clean slate to build a name in apparel. However, it is evident that even within the UK the brand has been capable of creating standalone appeal. A case in point is its Central London pop-up, launched last summer, where vintage glamour met digital innovation to create a compelling brand identity and spoke so promisingly of things to come. Standalone store could reinforce style credentials In this sense, F&F's impending flagship launch underwhelms.

On the one hand, F&F has been investing heavily in brand-building efforts in the UK by emulating strategies used by bona fide apparel retailers, from sponsoring London Fashion Week to hosting its own catwalk show. Significant brand segmentation also lends the label further credibility. But, on the other hand, the brand has no plans to launch standalone stores in the UK, and continues to latch onto its grocery heritage (it is telling that F&F's online shop bears the URL clothingattesco.com). With cheap chic showing no signs of disappearing, there has been no better time for Tesco to let F&F forge its own identity. If the company is serious about building F&F into a credible apparel brand, which it appears to be given its significant investment in brand-building activity, a standalone store could have been a more effective impactful move.

Ashma Kunde, Apparel Analyst at Euromonitor International <br><br> Al-Futtaim launches Tesco’s budget clothing line F&F in the UAE | The National Al-Futtaim launches Tesco’s budget clothing line F&F in the UAE Updated: November 6, 2013 05:44 PM Related Shopping F&F, the budget clothing line of the British supermarket chain Tesco, has become the latest value brand to launch in the UAE as more retailers seek to capitalise on an opportunity in the market. F&F, which is being introduced by Al-Futtaim, is following in the footsteps of rival George, the clothing range of Asda, a fellow UK supermarket giant, by opening outlets in the Emirates. The UAE has traditionally attracted more upscale international brands, but that has slowly changed over the past couple of years. That is partly because consumers are now seeking more ways to appear new and innovative, said Nassim Nasr, the general manager of the Dubai office of The Integer Group, a US-based retail marketing agency.

Many have moved away from wearing the same things over and over again, so even though they may have expensive items in their wardrobe, they also like to have a variety of items to choose from. And a high proportion of expatriates move to this part of the world to save money, said Mr Nasr, making stores like F&F, where 80 per cent of items cost less than Dh99, more appealing. "Of course if they can actually spend less on things that are not absolute necessities, they will do that," he added. The first F&F store in the UAE opened in Dubai’s Oasis Centre yesterday, but Al-Futtaim believes that there is scope for many more. "Next year we will really start to focus on Abu Dhabi and we currently have four sites identified," said Troy Zunckel, general manager of F&F Middle East and North Africa. "I also believe that Abu Dhabi has room for additional stores in the years to come.

We have also identified sites in Ras Al Khaimah as well as Fujairah and hopefully more sites in Dubai in the years to come." Part of the brand’s appeal is the quality of the product, added Mr Zunckel, who expects that F&F will compete with the likes of George, as well as labels positioned lower – and higher – than itself. "I think we are yet to understand how exactly how we fit into the market and who our exact benchmark is, but I think as an international standard, we benchmark ourselves against H&M and Next," he said. Al-Futtaim aims to open 40 stores across the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Jordan and Lebanon over the next five years. Tesco budget clothing brand F&F opens in Dubai - ArabianBusiness.com Tesco budget clothing brand F&F opens in Dubai Britain's largest retailer launches first UAE store, with more planned for next year Article By Courtney Trenwith Friday, 8 November 2013 10:19 AM British supermarket chain Tesco has launched its budget clothing brand, F&F, in the UAE with its first store in Dubai.

Brought to the UAE by Dubai-based conglomerate Al Futtaim, the first F&F opened in Oasis Centre this week. Al Futtaim has said it aims to open multiple stores in Abu Dhabi next year and is considering locations in Ras al Khaimah and Fujeirah, with plans for 40 stores across the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Jordan and Lebanon in the next five years. The first F&F franchise store opened in Saudi Arabia in May 2012 and the new stores will use the same model, which has seen a successful international expansion of the brand during the past year. F&F announced in May it would open shops across the Middle East and in Kazakhstan, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. F&F clothing already is sold in 12 countries.

tesco ,fashion, news page, clothing Click here for the Latest Fashion news on FashionUnited.co.uk Tesco news and facts history Tesco was founded in 1919 and originally specialising in food and drink, it is now diversified into areas such as clothing, consumer electronics, consumer financial services, retailing and renting DVDs, CDs, music downloads, Internet service, consumer telecoms, consumer health insurance, consumer dental plans and software. Click here to view the list of the last related news items, published by FashionUnited in the fashion news archive. Tesco and Asda in Bangladesh The BBC today reported Tesco and Asda are looking into allegations of worker abuse at garment factories used by their suppliers in Bangladesh. The retailers' comments came after a Guardian investigation claimed that workers making clothes were paid as little as four pence an hour. Tesco said it had done all it could to ensure "high standards and good conditions" in the country. Asda said any abuse was "unacceptable" and it may audit its factories. In its report, the Guardian claims that garment workers are regularly forced to work 80 hours a week in factories where conditions are often violent, and where staff do not have access to trade unions.

Charities such as War on Want have campaigned for years to improve the pay and conditions for garment workers in Bangladesh and last year wrote a report based on interviews with 60 workers from six garment factories. The group claimed that retailers could only sell their clothes at very low prices by pressuring suppliers in developing economies to keep costs down. As a result, suppliers in countries such as Bangladesh have had to drive down wages and extend working hours, as there is stiff competition for the retailers' business from other developing nations such as China. Asda told the Guardian that: "We find abuse of any kind unacceptable." The retailer blamed the problem on the fact that one of their approved suppliers was outsourcing its work to another factory without its knowledge and against its wishes. Tesco said it had taken steps to improve working conditions. "We have stuck by Bangladesh, continued to invest in modern factories and done all we can to ensure that high standards and good conditions are maintained," the UK's largest supermarket firm said in a statement.

17 July 2007 Tesco like-for-like sales growth slowdown Tesco has reported a slowdown in like-for-like sales growth in the three months ended 26 May to 4.7 percent, down from 5.8 percent the previous quarter. The results fell below analysts' expectations of 5 to 5.5 percent. As a result, shares in the supermarket giant dropped 2.8 percent. The group attributed the dip to �more subdued markets�. Despite the like-for-likes sales growth slowdown, chief executive Terry Leahy was upbeat about the first quarter results. �We've made a good start to the year across the group,� he said in a statement. Sales rose 10 percent, driven by new store development and the integration of acquired stores. International growth was strong at 24.6 percent at constant exchange rates. Asia performed particularly well, with sales up 32 percent as the group consolidated its operations there. Meanwhile, the UK �made solid progress� with �good growth� in the core food categories and further improvement of its offering. The company last week announced £270 million in price cuts.

19 June 2007 Tesco head given £1m pay rise to stay Terry Green, the head of clothing at Tesco was given a £1m pay rise in return for spurning the advances of Marks & Spencer director Stuart Rose. Green has also had his remit widened at Tesco. As well as overseeing clothing, he has been put in charge of toys, sporting goods, electricals and outdoor furniture. The changes make Green Tesco's de facto non-food director. The pay increase goes a long way to explain Green's decision to remain at Tesco. He is a close friend of Rose and when news broke last month that he was in early-stage talks to run M&S's clothing division - considered by many to be the plum job in British retail - few observers thought he would turn the chance down. Rose and Green worked together at the Burton Group, now renamed Arcadia , in the 1990s. 8 May 2007 Green remains at Tesco Reports earlier this week that Terry Green, Tesco's head of clothing, was in talks to jump ship to Marks & Spencer, have been invalidated by the supermarket giant.

Tesco's commercial and trading director Richard Brasher told the FT that Green was staying on with the company he joined in the second half of 2005. �Our people always get lots of offfers,� he said. �I would say to them that if they are not being offered jobs by other people, maybe I have got the wrong person (working for me). Terry Green is an employee of Tesco, he was then, he is now and that is it.� Brasher further denied that Green had been convinced to stay with a promotion or pay rise. News reports had suggested that Green was in talks with his longtime friend and former colleague, M&S's chief executive Stuart Rose, to head up the retailer's bloominng fashion division. Neither company would comment on the situation. Tesco sales up 5.9% Supermarket giant Tesco has said it enjoyed a "successful" Christmas, with like-for-like UK sales rising by 5.9% in the six weeks to 6 January. Sales were driven by Tesco's premium "Finest" range but it also enjoyed a record year in clothing and accessories sales.

The increase was at the top end of expectations and comes after rivals such as Sainsbury's and Morrisons have also reported record festive sales. Tesco's internet business also experienced strong growth, with total sales up by more than 30% to over £150m. The firm said its grocery team delivered more than 14 million items in its busiest Christmas week to date. The retailer added that its overseas businesses also traded well over Christmas and New Year, with international sales up by 15.8%. According to industry experts TNS, Tesco increased its share of the UK market over the holiday period. TNS said Tesco had a 31.4% share of all sales through UK supermarkets in the 12 weeks ending 31 December. Tesco dominates high street Tesco is continuing to expand on the high street, raising concern about its dominant position in the market. According to data obtained by The Sunday Time, the supermarket giant has acquired up to half of all the new shopping space in the UK this year, after store closures had been taken into account. Retail analyst Richard Hyman of Verdict Research conducted the research and called the statistics �mind-boggling�.

He estimated that the company opened 2 million square foot of retail space in 2006. Rivals of the supermarket leader have submitted complaints to the Competition Commission. The watchdog is to unveil the findings of its most recent investigation of supermarket retailing and speculation is mounting that it may suggest adding in a �competition test� to planning regulations. Tesco online sales surge In the run-up to Christmas, sales at Tesco's online business soared more than 30 percent. 1.3 million shoppers ordered groceries and gifts from Tesco.com, up from 1 million the year before. The increase in sales online was said to have raised concerns amongst a number of high street retailers over Christmas sales, especially the ones who were forced to start sales early, the Retail Bulletin reported. Thanks to heavy price cuts, consumers converged on the high street in droves to profit from the markdowns. While being good news for the consumer, the impact on retailers from the major discounts remains to be seen. 29 December 2006 Tesco expands fashion range Tesco is investing heavily in a clothing and home furnishings catalogue, online sales and shop-in-shop fashion outlets. The British supermarket giant expects the comprehensive range to reach sales of £1 billion next year.

�We have a massive investment coming in and we are going to trial selling our clothing ranges online next year,� said Terry Green, fashion chief executive of the chain. �We have sold 20 percent more clothing than last year and it is a huge growth area for us.� Green, who joined Tesco in September after having worked at Topshop, Debenhams, Bhs and Allders, hopes ultimately to be able to compete with high street fashion chains such as Next, Topshop and Marks and Spencer. Although Tesco is considered a discount retailer, it has recently launched its �Collection� range, which is more upmarket. A spokeswoman for the chain said an online sales trial was scheduled for next year, although she was unable to specify a date. With fashion sales of £750 million last year, Tesco is the fastest growing supermarket fashion retailer. The chain represents 11 percent of that market, following on the heels of Asda, the UK market leader with 17 percent. Tesco profit past £1bn mark British supermarket chain Tesco said on Tuesday that half year profits rose 10.3 percent past the £1 billion mark.

Sales for the world's fifth largest chain rose 12.7 percent to £22.7 billion. The group said results had been driven by a �particularly strong� second quarter thanks to the heatwave effect of the past summer. �Growth in customer numbers was the main driver of our sales, with gains coming from across the market,� said chief executive Sir Terry Leahy. �Customer spend per visit also rose in the period despite deflation in our stores.� The announcement comes amidst rapid expansion plans. The group is looking to open almost 400 stores overseas this year, creating 20,000 new jobs. It also said it was on track to opening its first stores in the US next year. Total international sales increased 21.3 percent to £5.3 billion. Currently, almost one-fifth of the group's £3.5 billion UK sales are derived from non-food products. This signifies a rise of 12.6 percent compared with the same period last year. Tesco is continuing to offer more non-food items like clothes and DVDs, and will even launch its own brand software.

Clothing sales gained 19 percent �in a subdued market�, while consumer electrics rose 36 percent. Katharine Hamnett collaborates with Tesco Ethical clothing campaigner and 80s icon designer Katharine Hamneet is launching an organic and ethically made clothing range for Tesco, marking another step in bringing awareness of ethically made clothes to the masses. The range, which will be launched next spring and comprise men's, women's and children's garments, will be a premium brand but also affordable, according to Tesco CEO Terry Green. Hamnett will be launching her own range of menswear and logo tees at the London Fashion Week exhibition later this month. Organic clothing is not unique to Tesco, however, Marks & Spencer has already started selling Fairtrade cotton clothing, and Tesco said that it knows customers are increasingly interested in environmentally sustainable clothing. Hamnett described the move as "the biggest leap forward yet for organic clothing,� according to WGSN. 11 September 2006 Tesco goes high end Tesco is following H&M as the leading high street omni-retailer to launch its first upmarket clothing range.

Tesco is due to launch its new F&F Collection, designed by Lee Rees-Oliviere, as its most high-end clothing range to date. Lee Rees-Oliviere is Tesco's head of design and the new collections, available for both men and women, will feature occasionwear and formalwear in 25 key Tesco stores nationwide from next week. The label will compete head-on with the likes of Designers At Debenhams and Marks & Spencer's Autograph sub-brand. The launch, according to Draper's is the latest in a long line of new initiatives at the supermarket level that will see it stretch its pricing and product beyond the value and basics line for which Tesco is known. Head of marketing for clothing Sean Murray said: �Because customers trust Tesco for clothing, we want to offer them a full range of products. Customers who had to shop elsewhere for something to wear to a wedding of a job intervie will now be able to buy those items from us too.� Prices for a women's suit are £30 for a skit and £60 for a jacket.

A 1940's-style silk tea dress is £55, 100% wool culottes are £35, a black tuxedo trouser suit is £100 and women's merino wool fine knitwear is £20. For men, prices are £90 for a leather biker jacket, £35 for flannel trousers, and a wool/cashmere blend v-neck sweater for £30. The range will be refreshed every six to eight weeks. F&F Collection by Lee Rees-Oliviere will have a dedicated area in store adjacent to the less expensive Florence + Fred lines. The shopfit will feature heavy graphic treatment to differentiate the sub-brand and each garment has a swing ticket with a photo of Rees-Oliviere. 4 September 2006 Tesco retail online Tesco will sell clothing online for the first time this month to take advantage of the lucrative back-to-school season. A capsule range of school clothing and accessories will be sold on the retailer's Tesco.com website from July 21 in Scotland and August 4 in the rest of the UK . The initiative will run for six weeks until the start of the school term.

Tesco plans to expand its clothing customer database through affiliate partnerships, which pay a commission to sites that drive traffic onto them. Its Tesco.com/clothing site, which enables visitors to view items online before they buy in-store, has more than 150,000 registered customers. Keith Chamarette, project director of digital agency WARL Evolution, which helped set up Tesco's clothing website in April 2005. He said: �Until now, the database has grown organically through the site or through in-store promotions. Affiliate programmes should help to drive even more traffic there.� Despite the trial, Tesco is unlikely to sell its entire clothing collection online in the near future. 24 July 2006 Tesco exits Sunday campaign The fight to stay open on Sunday's is no longer a concern for Tesco. The retailers has withdrawn from Deregulate, the lobby group set up to campaign for larger shops to be allowed to stay open longer on Sundays than the six-hour slot currently permitted. Other retail heavyweights including Next and Asda are losing a powerful ally in their efforts to remove restrictions on Sunday shop hours, but Tesco claims it is heeding the view of its customers.

Many shoppers say they don't want full deregulation, even though most are keen to see the six-hour limit extended, the company says. The Government has thrown the issue into the public arena for debate, with a change in hours, if any, unlikely to happen before 2007. Easter Sunday, at present the only Sunday where larger stores, whose with over 3,000 sq ft of trading space are obliged to close all day, is under threat if Deregulate gets its way. Small shops and convenience stores are already allowed to open all day, including Easter Day. At present, larger stores in England and Wales can trade during a six-hour slot in the period 10am to 6pm . Northern Ireland imposes 1pm -6pm opening, but Scotland has no restrictions. Larger stores in the Republic of Ireland open from 10am to either 6pm or 7pm. Tesco, meanwhile is extending its clothing ranges for AW/06 with a new denim-led collection for both men and women, which will be going into many of the supermarket's main store in late summer.

14 June 2006 Tesco to move into designer fashion Tesco is to launch an assault on the designer clothing market in an attempt to take on Marks & Spencer's Autograph collection and Debenhams' Designers at Debenhams lines. The F&F Collection, named after Tesco's existing -Florence & Fred clothing line, will be launched in September. The multi-million pound range is being positioned as "DKNY meets Hugo Boss", according to a supermarket executive. It is being master-minded by Lee Rees-Oliviere, Tesco's new head of design and a former designer at Jaeger. The shift up-market is part of Leahy's plan to double clothing sales of £800 million in the medium term. 30 May 2006 Tesco: growth in challenging year Supermarket giant Tesco today reported group sales of £41.8 billion for the year 2005/6, up 13.2 percent. The retailer saw gains across the board, with group revenues up 13 percent to £38.3 billion and underlying profit up 16.9 percent to £2.2 billion.

The company exceeded its target for return on capital two years early, realizing a return of 12.8 percent. A new target has been set. Meanwhile, the retailer said that £5 billion from its property portfolio would be released, and £1.5 billion of this amount would be used to buy back shares, while the majority will be used to finance future growth. The retailer also added that it had made good progress in all parts of its four-part strategy, although it admitted that it had been a challenging year. Sales in its domestic market, however, slowed. Like-for-like sales in the UK fell in the last quarter to 4.9 percent, compared with 5.7 percent over the Christmas period. Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy admitted that it had been a challenging year for the company and limited himself to �prudent� forecasts for like-for-like sales growth of between 3 and 4 percent. �Of course we'll try to beat that, but that's what we plan for. You know consumers are slightly cautious, competitors are slightly stronger,� he told the FT.

UK sales increased 10.7 percent to £32.7 billion, with like-for-like sales up 7.5 percent and operating profit up nearly 15 percent to £1.8 billion. Meanwhile, international sales, which account for 22 percent of total group sales, rose 23 percent to £9.16 billion while operating profit increased 17.4 percent. Sales from Tesco.com rose almost 32 percent to the £1 billion mark, with a profit gain of 55 percent to £56.2 million. With more than 200,000 orders a week, it accounts for more than 3 percent of UK sales. �These results represent good progress across the group in a more challenging year,� said Leahy in a statement. �By investing to improve the shopping experience for customers in our businesses around the world, we have been able to deliver another strong sales performance, manage the impact of higher oil-related and other external costs and improve returns for shareholders.� Tesco's merry Christmas Tesco reported an increase in sales during the Christmas period of 11.5 percent, thanks primarily to a strong performance in non-food categories, including clothing.

Same-store sales rose 7.2 percent or 2.9 percent from net new space. UK sales rose 10.1 percent while international sales soared 16.1 percent over the holidays, said the company. It added that clothing, toys, gifts, home entertainment and electronics sold well. Its Cherokee and Florence & Fred ranges have become especially popular in recent years. The market did not react quite as favourably as hoped, with shares in the British supermarket chain dropping upon release of the figures. According to the FT, the market is used to Tesco beating its forecasts. Tesco suffers weakening consumer confidence UK's biggest retailer Tesco has reported its first slowdown in underlying sales for two years, revealing that it too is subject to weakening consumer confidence, reports the FT. Finance director Andy Higginson said that the 5.5 percent underlying sales growth in the 14 weeks ended 19 November, compared with 6.6 percent in the previous quarter, was �very strong� when seen in the context of the company's �longer-term historical performance�. Although the food sector performed steadily, the non-food sector has felt the effects of lagging consumer confidence.

Growth in non-food sales was below last quarter's 13 percent, although still up in the double digits. Half of all the new space in the UK consisted of non-food. The company said that non-food now accounted for 6.5 percent of total group sales. Higginson said that Tesco planned to open four more non-food Tesco stores in a bid to expand that sector, and added that the company was �sensibly cautious but confident� about Christmas. Despite the slowdown, Tesco � with a market share of 32 percent - still outperformed the three other big supermarkets. �That 5.5 percent rise (in underlying sales) is twice the size of Sainsbury's growth,� Andrew Fowler, analyst at Merrill Lynch, told the Financial Times. Sales in the UK rose 11.6 percent, up from 10.9 percent last quarter. Higginson said that 3.7 percent of that was generated by new stores. With Tesco continuing to cut prices, price deflation was 1.6 percent. International business was �slightly ahead� of expectation, with sales rising 16 percent.

Balenciaga at Tesco Tesco has agreed to stop selling a military-style coat until it settles a copying row with haute couture group Balenciaga. The futuristic fashion house led by French designer Nicholas Ghesquiere has threatened Britain's number one supermarket chain with legal action after its Florence and Fred fashion label produced an almost identical white coat to one from Balenciaga's autumn/winter collection. The major difference between the two garments is that the Tesco coat is priced at £55, while its designer rival costs £1,380. A Tesco spokesman said the company was looking into the dispute with Balenciaga and would not release the offending coat to its stores until it was settled. Terry Green in talks to head Tesco clothing Terry Green, the former chief executive of the department-store group Allders, is in talks to join Tesco, the supermarket giant, and head its clothing business. If successfully completed, the move would mark Green's return to the retail sector following the collapse earlier this year of Allders with the loss of nearly 1,000 jobs.

The colourful retailer would replace John Hoerner - his former boss at Burton Group - who joined Tesco in 2001, but who recently stepped back from day-today involvement to take on a consultancy role. It is unlikely to be a main-board appointment. Both Tesco and Green declined to comment. Tesco feels Euro-expansion tension UK conglomerate Tesco and Wal-Mart are facing expansion trouble in East Europe. Data to be released by management consultants AT Kearney on Monday will show that the markets in Poland, Russia and Czech Republic are saturated. The report says "with new players entering this region and existing players expanding, market saturation is tugging many traditional eastern European countries down the index. The Czech Republic, for example dropped and Poland fell out of the top 30 all together. "Poland is now saturated," Tesco's Mike Sage said These markets are definitely not saturated. They are young, emerging markets and you need to take a medium to long term view and we know that when we open stores there is a big demand. We will continue with expansion as planned.

10 July 2005 Tesco to expand clothing Tesco will add its Cherokee, Florence & Fred and Value clothing ranges to another 20 Tesco Extra stores, which ar eplanned to open over the next year. It is currently sold in around 200 stores. The supermarket has also lauched a dedicated clothing website The website offers the latest fashion and gives info on where clothing is sold as well as fashion advice. Speculation continues that Tesco is a potential buyer for Cherokee, which has been put up for sale by its US parent company. 14 May 2005 Cherokee heads for England and abroad Tesco is in talks to buy the Cherokee clothes brand as part of a massive expansion of its international clothing operation. A deal could be announced within the next six weeks. Tesco has exclusive rights to distribute the American casualwear brand in Britain, but not in its stores on the Continent or in Asia. The brand has been put up for sale by US owner Cherokee Group, for an estimates £200m. Campbell for Tescos Supermodel Naomi Campbell is starring in a new ad campaign for supermarket chain Tescos. In the ad, which aired on television last night, Naomi parodies herself.

She is seen reacting violently to pop-ups of the low prices of the Cherokee label she is wearing. Lashing out at them is a tongue-in-cheek reference to Campbell's widely documented temper tantrums. The Cherokee label is a casual American label that is sold at Tescos in the UK. A spokeswoman for the label said: "The clothes are inspired in the same way as all the most popular labels. The quality speaks for itself though - it's on a par with Gap, or even better, because the supermarket is able to source the best materials." It is not known whether Campbell will feature in any other ads for Tescos, but in the meantime she is sure to draw plenty of attention to the brand. 26 April 2005 Tesco first non-food store The leading British supermarket chain, Tesco, will be testing its first non-food store this year. The focus will be on products such as clothing, homeware, electrical goods, CDs and DVDs. A spokesperson for Tesco told the Press Association news agency: "We will trial a non-good store at some point this year.

We will just have to see how it goes." The decision to test a non-food store was prompted by the success that Tesco's Extra stores enjoyed. These stores sell a larger selection of non-food items. Last year, non-food sales stimulated growth and accounted for approximately GBP 7 billion of Tesco's turnover. As yet, the new name and location of the store have not been revealed. 18 January 2005 Tesco triumph Of every £8 spent by British shoppers in any shop, anywhere, £1 of it will be making its way to Tesco. Tesco will sell £30 billion of goods this year in Britain - more than double either of its nearest rivals, Sainsbury's and Asda. If Tesco were a nation it would be the 74th biggest economy in the world - bigger than Libya or Kuwait. Tesco buys nearly one third of all produce from British farms. Sir Terry Leahy doesn't appear to have lost any of his ambition, telling Management Today magazine this year that Tesco still had only 6.5 per cent of the non-food market and that £1 in every £8 spent was not enough.

He said: "Our market share of UK retailing is 12.5 per cent - that leaves 87.5 per cent to go after." You have been warned. Green Baby Signs With Tesco Organic cotton baby and toddler brand Green Baby is to design a babywear collection for Tesco, as part of the UK's largest retailer's drive to add value to parts of its clothing offer. The range of basics, to be called Green Baby for Tesco, will be trialled in 25 of Tesco's larger format stores from March, with plans to roll it out to more stores by the end of the year. Designer for newborns to 18-month0olds, it includes bodysuits, babygrows, hats and booties. Green Baby's new designer Nicola Bradshaw, who joined from Elle in the spring, will head the design of the range. The main components of Tesco's clothing offer are the UK license of Cherokee and the Florence & Fred and Value own labels. The company is known to be looking at broadening its sportswear range, and the Breen Baby deal signals a willingness to look to niche brands.

Green Baby's clothing, toiletries and nappies are sold in over 300 UK independents. The company also operates a home shopping business with a mailing list of around 50,000. Green Baby's range of organic cotton clothing is produced at a Fair Trade project in South India. Other products are sourced mainly from Europe, notably in Germany where organic cotton is commonly used. Tesco's Clothing Lines Fastest Growth Tesco's clothing lines, run by former Arcadia chief executive of John Hoerner, are now the fastest growing brands in the UK. The chain has 1.8 per cent of the clothing market and Sir Terry Leahy believes the sky's the limit in terms of growth. He said: "Clothing has more than doubled in three years. It's a very profitable part of our business, but within the mass of Tesco it's only low single digits as a percentage of turnover. The non-food market is as big as the food market and so we see a really good opportunity to grow there." Tesco surges ahead Britain's largest supermarket group has reported a growth in its share of the British non-food market from 6% to 6.5%.

Clothing sales increased by 39% in the first half. Tesco's clothing brands Cherokee and Florence and Fred continued to expand in the UK in terms of size and monetary value. Total sales for the company rose to £16.5 billion, an increase of 12.2%. In the UK sales for the non-food division rose by 17%. In the first half, Tesco opened 34 stores outside the UK and plans on adding another 65 to its overseas operations in the second half. Tesco To Concentrate On Clothing Offer Sales at supermarket chain Tesco will get a boost as its clothing business is set to grow in the UK market. It has been estimated that clothing sales at Tesco are about 2 per cent of its total sales, leaving much room for growth and improvement. With revenues at GBP600 million, the developing clothing market for Tesco will be an important future growth driver. No longer being content with being looked at as a food retailer, Tesco has increasingly been emphasizing its non-food offer and aside from clothing is now also stocking toys, home furnishings and electrical items. In September 2002 Tesco launched its Cherokee clothing brand and now also has a range called Florence & Fred.

With about a 5 per cent share of the UK non-food market, Tesco believes its Florence and Fred, Cherokee, Value and own-brand clothing quadrupled the market rate last year. 25 February 2004 Tesco And Sainsbury's Plan Fashion Brands Tesco is thought to be planning to overhaul its fashion offer with brand acquisitions just as Sainsbury's is gearing up to unveil its revamped own-label clothing ranges. Tesco has been working hard in recent months to agree deals to secure replica football shirts, which it will sell at a discount to traditional sportswear retailers, but it is keen to broaden its clothing portfolio. It is now understood to have a multi-million pound war chest ready for fashion acquisitions. Tesco is understood to have been keen to buy value sportswear brand Admiral before it was snapped up in a licensing deal by rival Asda last October, and it is looking at similar brands. The strategy of buying in brands has been employed by Matalan and Marks & Spencer, which bought its sports brand, View From. Meanwhile, supermarket rival Sainsbury's is gearing up to launch its clothing brand Tu. The ranges, which will start to arrive in stores in July, are set for a full launch in September.

The launch is part of an effort to catch up with its supermarket rivals' non-food ranges and is being spearheaded by its head of clothing, former M&S executive Richard Jones. 28 January 2004 Matalan and Tesco Merger Rumour Played Down Reports that discount retailer Matalan and supermarket giant Tesco have held merger discussions have been firmly played down by both companies. Matalan shares rose sharply on Monday, up 3.2 percent to 211p, following a report in the Mail on Sunday which said the two retailers had been held talks until early this year, which could now be resurrected. Neither company commented directly on the report, but news agency Reuters quoted 'sources familiar' with Matalan which said "John Hargreaves and Terry Leahy have never met." Hargreaves, founder of Matalan, was said by the report to want to retain control of the business, while other members of the family are reported to be keener to explore a sale. Matalan was also recently linked to interest from Asda owner Wal-Mart, which is trialing stand alone clothing stores using the George brand.

23 September 2003 Clothing Sales Boost Tesco Supermarket chain Tesco posted a 21.3 per cent jump in first half pre-tax profit on Tuesday as it was boosted by surging apparel sales.The chain said its profits in the six months to August 9 jumped to £661 million as group sales rose 17 per cent year-on-year to £14.9 billion. Chief executive Terry Leahy said he was delighted with the results and described his firm as the fastest growing clothing business in the UK. September 15 2003 Tesco's Gains Puts Pressure on Discounters Tesco's expansion plans for its clothing offer are likely to put extra pressure on the bottom end of the market, according to analysts. The supermarket grew its YUK clothing market share by 40 per cent in value and 60 per cent in volume terms in 2002, to 1.4 and a 4.4 per cent of the market respectively. Analysts estimate it is currently achieving sales densities of around GBP350 to 400 per square foot.

During an analysts' tour of stores in the Manchester area, Tesco said it was on track to double its number of hypermarkets over the next three years. Two-thirds of growth would come via extensions of existing stores, which analysts say is likely to lead to greater clothing market share gains. By September, Tesco will have recruited 260 specialist clothing managers and, with its new clothing only warehouse in Daventry, this should lead to productivity gains. The City further expects Tesco to start to use it's leverage price further as it grows its clothing business. 22 July 2003 Tesco in talks with Turkish Kipa UK supermarket operator Tesco is in exclusive discussions with Turkish hypermarket group Kipa to acquire part or all of Kipas share capital. The deal is subject to a number of material conditions, but if cleared, is expected to close in the current financial year, Tesco said in a statement. Kipa operates five stores in Turkey. Tesco said the maximum amount payable for the entirety of Kipas equity capital would be GBP 76,2 million, subject to a net cash adjustment.

April 19, 2003 Tesco brings F&F clothing chain to Kensington store Tesco brings F&F clothing chain to Kensington store 05 Aug 2013 | By Ian Quinn Tesco is set to turn the first floor of its Kensington superstore into a new flagship branch of its F&F clothing chain. Available to members only Learn more about our membership packages. You're not logged in...already a member? Please log in using your email address and password. Please do not complete the following form field for security reasons. Email Address TESCO SUPERMARKET CHAIN UK FOOD SHOPS SHOPPING 24 HOUR ONLINE CONSUMER PROTECTION HOME DELIVERY A number of supermarket chains produce their own brands which they display with some prominence. They also stock the leading brands. However, do they stock smaller label brands in the spirit of fair competition? Do they have a fair trade policy? And are they packaging their foods in ocean friendly plastic? Supermarkets have developed over the years to become a driving force on the way that food is grown, sorted and packaged. They also either sell, or give away plastic carrier bags that are designed for single use.

In the old days these would have been paper, a much more sustainable product and also biodegradable. TESCO PLANS FIRST U.S. STORE FOR 2007 Tim Mason to Head American Operation LONDON (AdAge.com) -- Tesco, the U.K.ï¿½s largest grocery chain and one of its most successful brands, will open its first stores in the U.S. next year, and one of the regionï¿½s most powerful marketers, Tescoï¿½s U.K. Marketing Director Tim Mason, will head the U.S. operation. Tesco PLC (LSE: TSCO) is a United Kingdom -based international supermarket chain. It is the largest British retailer, both by global sales and by domestic market share. Originally specialising in food, it has moved into areas such as clothes, consumer electronics, consumer financial services, service and consumer telecoms.

In the year ended 26 February 2005 Tesco made a pre-tax profit of ï¿½1.962 billion on turnover of ï¿½33.974 billion (the widely publicised headline profit of "over ï¿½2 billion" was "underlying profit" before certain accounting adjustments). According to TNS Superpanel Tesco's share of the UK grocery market in the 12 weeks to 4 December 2005 was 30.6%. Across all categories, over ï¿½1 in every ï¿½8 of UK retail sales is spent at Tesco. Tesco also operates overseas, and non-UK sales for the year to 26 February 2005 were 20% of total sales. History Tesco was founded by Jack Cohen, who sold groceries in the markets of the London East End from 1919. The Tesco brand first appeared in 1924. After Jack Cohen bought a large shipment of tea from T.E. Stockwell, he made new labels by using the first three letters of the supplier's name and the first two letters of his surname forming the word "TESCO".

This information was verified by the TESCO press relations on BBC Radio in the South on December 10th. In the late 1990s, the typeface of the logo was changed to the current one shown on the top of the page with stripe reflections underneath the typefaces as Tesco used them on their carrier bags. The first Tesco store was opened in 1929 in Burnt Oak, Edgware, London. The firm was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1947. The first Tesco self-service store opened in 1948 in St Albans and is still trading in 2005. The first Tesco supermarket was opened in 1956 in a converted cinema in Maldon, Essex. It has been said that it began own-label canning at the former Goldhanger Fruit Farms factory, sited a few miles from Maldon in the village of Tolleshunt Major, despite Goldhanger being another nearby village. The factory has since been sold. It is now a transport depot, with several other business units on the site. Tesco's first "superstore" was opened in 1968 in Crawley, West Sussex.

It began selling petrol in 1974 and its annual turnover reached one billion pounds in 1979. Also In 1975 Tesco opened one of its first Hypermarket's in Irlam. The first Hypermarket under the "Extra" name opened in 1997. It introduced a loyalty card branded 'Clubcard' in 1995 and later an Internet shopping service. During the 1990s it expanded into Central Europe, Ireland and East Asia. In July 2001 it became involved in internet grocery retailing in the USA when it obtained a 35% stake in GroceryWorks. In October 2003 it launched a UK telecoms division, comprising of mobile and home phone services, to complement its existing internet service provider business. In August 2004, it also launched a broadband service.

In addition to opening its own stores, Tesco has expanded by taking over other chains, including: Victor Value, England, 1968 (sold again in 1986) William Low, Scotland, 1994 Quinnsworth, Stewarts and Crazy Prices stores, Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland from Associated British Foods, 1997 13 HIT hypermarkets in Poland, 2002 T & S Stores, owner of the UK convenience store chains One Stop and Day & Nite, 2002 C Two-Network in Japan, 2003 A majority stake in Turkish supermarket chain Kipa in 2003. Lotus in Thailand Hillards, North of England 1984 21 remaining Safeway/BP stores in late 2005, when supermarket chain Morrisons dissolved its Safeway/BP partnership (entered into when aquiring Safeway) Corporate strategy Tesco's growth over the last two or three decades has involved a transformation of its strategy and image. Its initial success was based on the "Pile it high, sell it cheap" approach of the founder Jack Cohen.

The disadvantage of this was that the stores had a poor image with middle-class customers. In the late 1970s Tesco's brand image was so negative that consultants advised the company to change the name of its stores. It did not accept this advice, yet by early 2005 it was the largest retailer in the United Kingdom, with a 29.0% share of the grocery market according to retail analysts TNS Superpanel, compared to the 16.8% share of Wal-Mart-owned ASDA and 15.6% share of third-placed Sainsbury's , which had been the market leader until it was overtaken by Tesco in 1995. Key reasons for this success include: An "inclusive offer". This phrase is used by Tesco to describe its aspiration to appeal to upper, medium and low income customers in the same stores. According to Citigroup retail analyst David McCarthy, "They've pulled off a trick that I'm not aware of any other retailer achieving. That is to appeal to all segments of the market" [1] .

By contrast ASDA's marketing strategy is focused heavily on value for money, which can undermine its appeal to upmarket customers even though it actually sells a wide range of upmarket products. During its long term dominance of the supermarket sector Sainsbury's retained an image as a high-priced middle class supermarket which considered itself to have such a wide lead on quality that it did not need to compete on price, and was indifferent to attracting lower-income customers into its stores. This strategy has been adandoned since losing the no.1 spot to Tesco and particularly since the arrival of Justin King as CEO in 2004 who has established a new customer-focused strategy closer to that of Tesco. One plank of this inclusivity has been Tesco's use of its own-brand products, including the upmarket "Finest" and low-price "Value" ranges. The company has taken the lead in overcoming customer reluctance to purchasing own brands, which are generally considered to be more profitable for a supermarket as it retains a higher portion of the overall profit than it does for branded products.

Customer focus: Sir Terry Leahy, chief executive since the mid 1990s, has taken the bold step of trying not to focus on the usual corporate mantra of "maximising shareholder value". The company's mission statement reads, "Our core purpose is, 'To create value for customers to earn their lifetime loyalty'. We deliver this through our values, 'No-one tries harder for customers', and 'Treat people how we like to be treated'". The underlying aim is of course to make higher profits, but there is a clear focus on customer service at the top level of the company. It remains to be seen whether Tesco will be able to maintain this focus now that it is widely perceived as a great corporate success story and the dominant company in the United Kingdom retail market, or if it will succumb to corporate arrogance as sometimes happens to dominant companies. Diversification: The company has a four-pronged strategy: "Core UK business" - That is, grocery retailing in its home market. It has been innovative and energetic in finding ways to expand, such as making a large-scale move into the convenience-store sector, which the major supermarket chains have traditionally shunned.

"Non-food business" - Many United Kingdom supermarket chains have attempted to diversify into other areas, but Tesco has been exceptionally successful. By late 2004 it was widely regarded as a major competitive threat to traditional high street chains in many sectors, from clothing to consumer electronics to health and beauty to media products. Tesco sells an expanding range of own-brand non-food products, including non-food Value and Finest ranges. It also has done quite well in non-food sales in Ireland. CDs are one of the best examples, with Tesco Ireland promising to sell all chart CDs (except compilations) for ï¿½14.95 compared with HMV Ireland or Golden Discs selling the same for just over or under ï¿½20. "Retailing services" - Tesco has taken the lead in its sector in expanding into areas like personal finance (see below), telecoms (see below), and utilities. It usually enters into joint ventures with major players in these sectors, contributing its customer base and brand strength to the partnership. Other supermarkets in the United Kingdom have done some of the same things, but Tesco has generally implemented them more effectively, and thus made most profit.

"International" - Tesco began to expand internationally in 1994, and in the year ending February 2005 its international operations accounted for just over 20% of sales, or about ï¿½7 billion (approximately $13 billion). It has focused mainly on developing markets with weak incumbent retailers in Central Europe and the Far East, rather than on mature markets such as Western Europe and the United States. The medium term aim is to have half of group sales outside the United Kingdom. Tesco rolls out successful UK initiatives in other countries. For example Tesco Financial Services and Tesco Express convenience stores both operate in several markets. Overall Tesco's success is probably based mainly on getting the basics of retailing right slightly more often than most of its rivals. Formats Tesco's UK stores are divided into five formats, differentiated by size and the range of products sold. Tesco Extra are larger, out-of-town hypermarkets that stock all of Tesco's product ranges. The first Extra opened in 1997 and the 100th in the 2004/05 financial year.

The number of these is now being increased by about 20 a year, mainly by conversions from the second category. Typical size 66,000 square feet (6,100 mï¿½). As of January 2006 Tesco's largest UK store is in Slough and is 190,000 square feet (18,300 mï¿½). This store is unusual in being raised on stilts to maximise space utilisation. A standard Wal-Mart Supercenter in the U.S. is around 200,000 square feet (20,000 mï¿½). Tesco Hypermarket are very rare now , they came before the extra name. these are roughly the same size as Tesco Extra (if not bigger) and came in 1970's. The flagship store was in Irlam (now an extra) and each store has its own personality. Tesco stores are standard large supermarkets, stocking groceries plus a much smaller range of non-food goods than Extra. They are referred to as "superstores" for convenience, but this word does not appear on the shops.

It is the "standard" Tesco format, accounting for the majority of UK floorspace. Most are located in suburbs of cities or on the edges of large and medium-sized towns. The typical size is 31,000 square feet (2,900 mï¿½). Tesco Metro stores are sized between normal Tesco stores and Tesco Express stores. They are mostly located in city centres and on the high streets of small towns. Typical size is 12,000 square feet (1,100 mï¿½). Tesco Express stores are neighbourhood convenience shops, stocking mainly food with an emphasis on higher-margin products (due to lack of economies of scale) alongside everyday essentials. They are found in busy city centre districts and small shopping precincts in residential areas, and on petrol station forecourts. There are 546 stores at 26 February 2005 year end, with a typical size of 2,000 square feet (190 mï¿½). One Stop The only category which does not include the word Tesco in its name. These are the very smallest stores.

They were part of the T&S Stores business but, unlike many which have been converted to Tesco Express, these will keep their old name. There are more than 500 of them. Typical size 1,300 square feet (120 mï¿½). In May 2005 Tesco confirmed that it will be trialing a non-food only format [2] : Tesco Homeplus : These stores offer all of Tesco's ranges except food in warehouse-style units in retail parks. The first one opened in Manchester in September 2005. Tesco is trying this format because only 20% of its customers have access to a Tesco Extra, and the company is restricted in how many of its superstores it can convert into Extras and how quickly it can do so. Large units for non-food retailing are much more readily available. Security Guards An incident was reported to us recently, where two pensioners (a couple) were accosted by a security guard at a Tesco store in Eastbourne, East Sussex. Apparently, the couple concerned were regular shoppers at the store in Lottbridge Drove, Eastbourne.

Having completed their usual Monday shop, they were busy checking the goods against the till receipt when ................... Read more on this story using the links below. Sir Terry was reluctant to respond, but finally replied ............. Read more on this story and Sir Terry, using the links below. Tesco Personal Finance Tesco has a banking arm called Tesco Personal Finance, which is a 50:50 joint venture with the Royal Bank of Scotland . The products on offer include credits cards, loans, mortgages, savings accounts and several types of insurance, including car, home, life and travel. They are promoted by leaflets in Tesco's stores and through its website. The business made a profit of ï¿½202 million for the 52 weeks to 26 February 2005, of which Tesco's share was ï¿½101 million. Telecoms Tesco operates ISP, mobile phone and home phone businesses. These are available to UK residential consumers and marketed via the Tesco website and through Tesco stores. Though it launched its ISP service in 1998, the firm did not get serious about telecoms until 2003.

It has not purchased or built a telecoms network, but instead has pursued a strategy of pairing its marketing strength with the expertise of existing telcos. In autumn 2003 Tesco Mobile was launched as a joint venture with O2, and Tesco Home Phone created in partnership with Cable & Wireless . Tesco Mobile currently offers only prepaid accounts. In August 2004 Tesco broadband, an ADSL-based service delivered via BT phone lines, was launched in partnership with NTL. Tesco announced in December 2004 that it has signed up 500,000 customers to its mobile service in the 12 months since launch. In December 2005, it announced it had one million customers using its mobile service. In April 2005 it announced that it had over one million telecom accounts in total, including mobile, fixed line and broadband accounts. [4] Internet operations Tesco has operated on the internet in the UK since 1994 and was the first retailer in the world to offer a robust home shopping service in 1996. Tesco also has Internet operations in the Republic of Ireland and South Korea.

Grocery sales are available within delivery range of selected stores, goods being hand-picked within each store. This model, in contrast to the warehouse model initially followed by UK competitor Sainsbury, and still followed by UK internet only supermarket Ocado, allowed rapid expansion with limited investment, but has been criticised by some customers for a high level of substitutions arising from variable stock levels in stores. Nevertheless, it has been popular and is the largest online grocery service in the world. In 2001 Tesco invested in GroceryWorks, a joint venture with Safeway in the United States, operating in the United States and Canada. GroceryWorks has stepped into the void left by the collapse of Webvan, but has not expanded as fast as initially expected. Concerned with poor web response times (at the time of its launch in 1996, broadband was virtually unknown in the UK), Tesco offered a CDROM-based offline ordering program which would connect only to download stock lists and send orders. This was in addition to, rather than instead of, ordering via web forms, but was withdrawn in 2000.

Tesco claims (in its 2005 annual report) to be able to serve 98% of the UK population from its 300 participating stores. Tesco delivers to over 1 million households, with more than 120,000 orders per week, by 1,000 local delivery vans. In the financial year ending 26 February 2005 it recorded online sales up 24.1% to ï¿½719 million and profit up 51.8% to ï¿½36 million. The Tesco.com site is also used as a general portal to most of Tesco's products, including various non-food ranges (under the "Extra" banner), Tesco Personal Finance and the telecoms businesses, as well as extra services which it offers in partnership with specialist companies, such as flights and holidays, music downloads (as of June 2005 Tesco claims a 10% UK market share), gas, electricity and DVD rentals. It does not currently sell clothing online.

In May 2005 it introduced a clothing website [5] , but initially at least this serves solely as a showcase for Tesco's clothing brands, and customers still have to visit a store to buy. Operations outside the UK Many British retailers that have attempted to build an international business have failed. Tesco has responded to the need to be sensitive to local expectations in foreign countries by entering into joint ventures with local partners, such as Samsung Group in South Korea, and appointing a very high proportion of local personnel to management positions. In late 2004 the amount of floorspace Tesco operated outside the United Kingdom surpassed the amount it had in its home market for the first time, although the United Kingdom still accounted for more than 75% of group revenue due to lower sales per unit area outside the UK. In September 2005 Tesco announced that it was selling its operations in Taiwan to Carrefour and purchasing Carrefour's stores in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Both companies stated that they were concentrating their efforts in countries where they had strong market positions [6] . Tesco is the grocery market leader in the Republic of Ireland, with a reported November 2005 share of 26.3%.

[7] The following table shows the number of stores, total store size in square feet and sales for Tesco's international operations. All the figures are for 31 December 2004 or the year to 31 December 2004, except for the Republic of Ireland data, which is at 26 February 2005, like the UK figures. Note 1: The business in China is a joint venture and its turnover is not reported in Tesco's 2005 brokers' pack. Note 2: Tesco owned a French chain called Catteau between 1992 and 1997. Its existing single store in France is a wine warehouse in Calais, which opened in 1995 and is targeted at British day trippers. Wine is much cheaper in France than in the UK because the duty is far lower. Turnover is not reported separately. Financial performance Tesco is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol TSCO. It also has a secondary listing on the Irish Stock Exchange with the name TESCO PLC.

All figures below are for the Tesco's financial years, which run for 52 or 53 week periods to late February. Tesco is between the fourth- and the sixth-largest retailer in the world, depending on how this is calculated. The three largest are Wal-Mart, Carrefour and Home Depot. METRO and Ahold are also larger than Tesco based on total turnover, but METRO's sales include many billions of wholesale turnover and Ahold's many billions of foodservice turnover, and their retail turnovers are less than Tesco's. On its website Tesco claims to be the third-largest retailer in the world. Presumably it is ignoring Home Depot, which as a home improvement company is not in the same business, but is certainly a retailer. At 26 February 2005 Tesco operated 1,779 stores in the UK (24.2 million square feet, 2.23 million mï¿½) and 586 outside the UK (27.6 million square feet, 2.54 million mï¿½).

Tesco plans to expand UK floorspace by 8% and non-UK floorspace by 20% in 2005/06. Tesco's market capitalisation on 31 August 2005 was ï¿½25.3 billion ($45.2 billion), which was the largest of any retailer based outside the United States. For the 24 weeks to 13 August 2005 revenue growth was 13.8% and profits increased by 18.7% after tax and 18.0% after tax. Tesco to make its West End fashion debut - Telegraph Retail and Consumer Tesco to make its West End fashion debut Tesco, the supermarket chain, is set to take on New Look, Primark and Topshop with the opening of a standalone clothing store in London's West End.

Tesco is already the fifth biggest player in the 'value' clothing sector Photo: ALAMY By James Hall, Retail Editor 7:00AM BST 09 Jul 2010 Comments The supermarket, which is more used to operating from out-of-town sheds than chi-chi boutiques, has already looked at potential sites on Oxford Street and High Street Kensington. The store would be branded F&F after Tesco's own-label clothing range, previously called Florence & Fred. The bold move will see Tesco try to succeed where its competitors have failed. Retail rent levels in the West End of London are among the highest in the world. In 2008 arch-rival Asda closed its chain of George high street shops following a four-and-a-half-year trial run of the stand-alone clothing concept. Asda pulled the plug on the venture as it could not make the economics stack up. Terry Green, Tesco consultant and former clothing boss, told Drapers magazine: "We're looking for a store in the West End as a flagship for F&F.

It will be a one-off to showcase the brand and complement our online and supermarket offer." The retailer is thought to be after a store of around 6,000 square feet. Tesco's clothing division has annual sales of over £1bn. However the so-called 'value' clothing sector is worth around £9.3bn. According to Verdict Research, Tesco is the fifth biggest player in this sector with a 10.4pc share. Primark, which on Thursday reported strong sales , is the market leader with an 18.5pc share, followed by George, TK Maxx and New Look. Being fifth in any product category will be an alien feeling for Tesco, which normally dominates every sector it operates in. Related Articles Tesco sees a greater sense of optimism on the high street 11 Jun 2010 Tesco's move could be partly driven by the fast that fashion brands are having to shout louder to get heard in an ever-more-crowded marketplace. As well as being home to thousands of stores from established brands like Primark and New Look, the UK is attracting a raft of international clothing brands.

US chain Abercrombie & Fitch and its sister brand Hollister made their UK debuts a few years ago, however chains such as Forever 21, Vero Moda and Victoria's Secret are also set to enter the UK. Maureen Hinton, senior research analyst at Verdict, told Drapers: "If Tesco can get the look and feel right in a standalone store, then it could be a good way of building brand awareness. This look and feel would then need to be translated into the supermarkets too though, so there is not a discrepancy between the flagship store and the other offers." Tesco has form in launching successful new formats and retail concepts. It revolutionised the convenience store market with its Tesco Express chain and has launched non-food homewares-only stores. Tesco also owns the Dobbies garden centre chain and has moved into banking. Its F&F brand has grown fast over recent years. According to Tesco's website F&F has a Couture sub-brand, as well as Petite and True (plus-size) sub-brands. While a simple F&F dress would cost a customer as little as £16, dresses in its Couture range cost up to £140.

Last year F&F held a fashion show in London's West End.

Question: F&F is the clothing brand of which supermarket chain?
Answer: Tesco