At a shareholders’ meeting in Charlotte, NC, this week, Lowe’s Cos. ceo Robert Niblock reaffirmed the retailer’s plans to open 120 new stores this year, its commitment to gain share in the home-improvement market and its belief in long-term prospects for growth. The Wall Street Journal (June 4, 2008) Paid subscription may be required.
Yesterday, Tesco PLC also announced plans to open an additional 150 Fresh & Easy stores in the U.S., in addition to the 60 that have opened since the chain’s introduction last November. The UK-based retailer is bucking the downward retail trend, posting a 12% increase in net income for the fiscal year ended Feb. 23 (to £2.12 [...]
Analysts don’t agree on by how much, but they concur that Tesco’s 59 Fresh & Easy locations are missing their weekly sales targets. Some analysts think stores are averaging $170,000, while others think the number could be as low as $60,000. Interestingly, evidence suggests Americans are confused by the new concept: part organic, part convenience and all served up [...]
Speaking at a conference in Phoenix, Adam Mayfield, Tesco’s director of real estate, said that Phoenix’s Eastern Valley region could easily support 100 stores, almost three times the number the scheduled to open, according to the company’s previously announced plans. Mayfield elaborated, saying that Tesco might open store locations only two miles apart, providing roughly one store [...]
Natural products veteran retail executive Mike Gilliland is currently preparing to open the first Sunflower Farmers Market in Boulder, Colorado. But he apparently also is planning for an expansion along the lines of the one he helped engineer at Wild Oats. Boulder’s Daily Camera catches up with him and reports on other news from the [...]
Speaking with investors on a conference call, consultant Jim Prevor said that the 52 Fresh & Easy stores that have opened since November are averaging weekly sales volumes of $50,000 to $60,000, or about $5 a square foot. That’s a little more than one quarter of the sales volume Tesco had projected. Supermarket News (Feb. 21, 2008)
Tesco USA confirmed plans to open 18 new store locations in the San Francisco Bay Area, beginning in 2009, and may have plans to open more than four stores in the Sacramento area, according to uncomfirmed reports. Tesco has opened 37 Fresh & Easy stores since November in sothern California, Arizona and Nevada. It projects having [...]
That’s according to a London-based food retailing analyst, who predicts up to 1,000 U.S. stores in five years and 2,500 stores in ten. The retailer currently operates 30 stores, and has 270 additional sites in its development pipeline. Supermarket News (Dec. 18, 2007)
With a 1.4 million square foot distribution center, all but complete, in Riverside, CA, and two stores planning to open in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties in the coming weeks, predictions of Tesco’s impending rise cannot be discounted. Analysts believe that if Tesco goes forward with its expansion plan, that includes 17 stores in 2008 [...]