Tesco closes more seafood counters, nixes Jack’s brand

Tesco is closing meat, seafood, and hot deli counters in more than 300 of its U.K. stores, after previously closing them in around 90 stores in 2019.

Simultaneously, Tesco said it would no longer operate stores under its Jack’s brand. Of the 13 Jack’s stores, it will convert six to Tesco superstores, with the remaining seven Jack’s stores to close in the coming months.

“Customer shopping behavior has changed considerably over recent years, which has led to a decrease in the number of customers using counters on a regular basis in some of our stores. This has made it necessary to review the relevance of each counter within our stores,” Tesco said in a press release.

In 279 stores where the grocer “sees local customer demand” for meat, fish, or hot deli counters, it will continue to offer counter services, Tesco said. However, in 317 stores with the lowest demand, the counters will be closed the space will be repurposed “to better reflect our customers’ needs.”

In early 2019, Tesco closed fresh seafood counters in around 90 stores, citing a challenging grocery market and more customers shopping online. At the time, around 9,000 employees were expected to be impacted by the fresh counter closures and a number of other cost-cutting measures, according to the retailer.

“In our four years of turnaround, we’ve made good progress, but the market is challenging and we need to continually adapt to remain competitive and respond to how customers want to shop,” Tesco U.K. CEO Jason Tarry said in a statement at the time.

Tesco launched Jack’s in 2018 partially to gain knowledge from running stores with a low-cost operating model, Tesco said.

“We have learned a tremendous amount from Jack’s, and with that experience now absorbed into Tesco, the time is right to focus on continuing to deliver great value in our core business,” Tesco said.

Learnings from Jack’s include the launch of Aldi Price Match as well as its Fresh 5 fruit and vegetable discount proposition.

“Thanks to its strong recognition with customers for great quality and value, the Jack’s brand will live on, with Jack’s branded products available to independent convenience stores supplied by Booker,” Tesco said.

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