The chain was launched under the previous management and on the plus side, it wasn’t the disaster that the US venture, Fresh & Easy was
Tesco PLC (LSE:TSCO) is to close down Jack’s, the chain of stores it launched to head off the challenge of hard discounters Aldi and Lidl.
Seven Jack’s stores will be closed while six more will be converted into superstores bearing the Tesco fascia. Tesco stores typically carry 35,000 or so product lines whereas Jack’s carried around 2,600 product lines, displayed more like items in a warehouse than a supermarket, similar to the model adopted by Aldi and Lidl.
Launched in September 2018 and named after the company’s founder, Jack Cohen, the supermarket giant had big plans for the chain with 10 to 15 set to open in the first six months of operation.
Today’s decision represents a setback for the company’s ambitions to head off the threat of the hard discounters but management was putting a positive spin on it.
“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,” said Jason Tarry, the chief executive of Tesco UK.
Shares in Tesco were up 0.8% at 299.4p in mid-morning trading.
Read More: Tesco PLC gives up on Jack’s discount stores experiment