Tesco to close all Jack’s stores

Tesco Monday said it will no longer operate stores under the Jack’s brand, which it launched in 2018 as part of its efforts to take on German discounters Aldi and Lidl.

The latest announcement follows the supermarket’s decision in October last year to axe Jack’s symbol group offered to independent convenience stores affiliated to wholesaler Booker, also owned by Tesco.

Tesco added that the Jack’s own label products will still be available to independent stores supplied by Booker.

Named after its founder Jack Cohen, Tesco said it has learned a ‘tremendous amount’ from Jack’s, and the knowledge gained from running stores with a low-cost operating model will now be absorbed into Tesco.

Out of the 13 Jack’s stores, six will be converted into Tesco superstores, with the remaining seven stores to close in the coming months. 130 jobs in the seven closing stores and in head office will be affected by these changes, and Tesco said it will try to find alternative roles for them.

“We have learnt a huge amount from Jack’s and this has helped Tesco become more competitive, more efficient and strengthened our value proposition, including through the launch of Aldi Price Match,” Jason Tarry, chief executive at Tesco UK and ROI, said. “With the learnings from Jack’s now applied, the time is right to focus on ensuring we continue to deliver the best possible value for customers in our core business.”

“Our Jack’s brand will continue to be sold across Booker and our symbol brands, bringing great value and quality to even more customers,” Tarry added.

Tesco also announced that it will close counter services in 317 stores with the lowest demand for meat, fish or hot deli counters. These counters will remain in 279 stores. There will be no redundancies related to these counters changes, as affected colleagues will be offered alternative roles.