TOKYO-London-based retailer Tesco has decided to pull out of Japan, and will sell its 129 stores in the greater Tokyo area. The company has been having trouble competing with Japanese brands and other national stores, and consumer confidence has been down since the worldwide recession.
Philip Clarke, CEO of the company said in a statement that the firm will continue to operate the stores here while also starting a formal sale process over the coming months. “We have reviewed our portfolio in Asia and the performance of our business in Japan,” he said. “Having made considerable efforts in Japan, we have concluded that we cannot build a sufficiently scalable business.”
The company bought its way into the Japanese market in 2003 by acquiring more than 100 stores from local companies such as C2 Network, and now operates the stores under the names Tsurakame, Tesco and Tesco Express formats. Tesco has reportedly spent about $163 million on the Japan stores. More than half of the stores are profitable, Clarke said.
Tesco has 1,400 stores across five markets in Asia (China, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Japan), which recorded $18 billion in sales in 2010. Worldwide, the retailer operates more than 5,400 stores across 14 countries (including Japan) and employs nearly 500,000 people.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
