Just one country remains in Tesco’s decades-long global retreat
Tesco’s sale of its Czech and Slovak businesses is the latest step in its long retreat from a once-sprawling global presence. Felix Armstrong traces this journey Tesco’s hold on the British grocery market is unmatched. Holding a towering 27.8 per cent market share across more than 3,600 shops, the supermarket chain is a fixture on [...]
Tesco's sale of its Czech and Slovak businesses marks the end of a long retreat from a once-extensive global presence. The UK-based supermarket chain, which holds a dominant 27.8% share of the British grocery market across 3,600+ stores, had once expanded its reach across the world. However, under the leadership of Ken Murphy, Tesco has gradually abandoned more than a dozen international markets, focusing on price reduction and quality improvement at home.
Recent years have seen Tesco close operations in Poland, Thailand, China, Turkey, Pakistan, the US, Hong Kong, South Korea, and most recently, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Following the sale of these two countries for £1.5bn, Hungary remains as the sole international outpost. Tesco's decision to offload Hungarian stores, despite the government's recent tax hikes, suggests a waiting-and-seeing approach to make the market more attractive for investors. Despite Tesco's roots in Cork, Ireland, Murphy remains committed to Hungarian operations.
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