Tesco eyes Far East expansion
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Tesco is to send a team of managers to the Far East in the next few months to examine the possibility of opening stores in South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. The supermarket group has been monitoring the area from its buying office in Hong Kong but is now keen to gain more information on the key markets.
Tesco said it was not deterred by the turmoil in financial markets in the Far East saying that the longer term prospects in the region were still good. "There is no commitment yet but it is a good time to look. These are strong consumer markets."
Tesco is keen to establish if markets such as Thailand and Taiwan would prove profitable areas for the hypermarket format it has expanded so successfully in central Europe. Tesco already has stores in Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia and is expanding rapidly. It will open six more hypermarkets in these countries next year and a further 6-10 the year after.
Tesco's Far Eastern adventure highlights the different strategies of the top food retailers. While Tesco is concentrating on Europe and the Far East, Sainsbury's still feels the US is a more profitable route to expansion. Asda is performing well under its lower prices proposition while Safeway which issued another profits warning next week looks set for a period of consolidation during which it will look to return cash to shareholders after its plans to merge with Asda were called off.
-
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments