Tesco to close Jack’s discount chain of shops
Tesco is closing its Jack’s discount chain, created to win back shoppers from Aldi and Lidl, less than four years after it was launched.
Britain’s biggest grocer opened the first Jack’s stores – named after the supermarket’s founder, Jack Cohen – in September 2018, in Chatteris in Cambridgeshire and Immingham in Lincolnshire, with a promise to be “the cheapest in town”.
It had ambitious expansion plans for the chain, and had initially set out to open between 10 and 15 stores in the first six months after launch.
But Tesco ultimately opened just 13 Jack’s stores. Six of the branches will be converted into Tesco superstores, while the remaining seven will be shut permanently.
About 130 jobs are to go at the closing stores and at the retailer’s head office, although Tesco said it would try to find alternative roles for the staff affected.
Jack’s employees at the shops being converted will automatically be offered new in-store roles, while Tesco said it would also be recruiting extra staff for the new superstores.
Tesco insisted the Jack’s venture had helped it to win over new customers from its competitors.
Jason Tarry, the chief executive of Tesco UK and Ireland, said: “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.”
Jack’s was created during the tenure of Tesco’s former chief executive, Dave Lewis, and launched in the company’s centenary year. The retailer claimed it had spotted a gap in the market for shoppers who wanted “smaller, simpler” stores that sold more British produce.
To keep costs down, Jack’s stores followed a similar layout to stores run by the German discounters, with
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