Tesco has announced it will no longer operate stores under the Jack’s brand. Of the 13 Jack’s stores, six will be converted to Tesco superstores, with the remaining seven Jack’s stores to close in the coming months.
The group stated, 'What we have learned from Jack’s has helped Tesco become more competitive, more efficient and strengthen the value we offer to customers - including the launch of Aldi Price Match as well as our popular Fresh 5 fruit and veg discount proposition which we have since launched in businesses across the Group.
'As a result, we have consistently attracted new customers to Tesco from our competitors over the last two years, and their perception of the value they can find at Tesco has increased significantly.
'Thanks to its strong recognition with customers for great quality and value, the Jack’s brand will live on, with Jack’s branded products available to independent convenience stores supplied by Booker.'
In the six stores to be converted to Tesco, Jack’s staff will be automatically offered in-store roles. Tesco will also be recruiting additional staff to help run these stores.
There are 130 roles in the seven closing stores and in head office that will be affected by these changes. Tesco will be seeking to find alternative roles for all who want to stay with the company.
Tesco UK and ROI CEO, Jason Tarry 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.
'In turn, this has enabled us to consistently attract new customers to Tesco from our competitors over the last two years and we know they increasingly recognise the value they can find at Tesco. With the learnings from Jack’s now applied, the time is right to focus on ensuring we continue to deliver the best possible value for customers in our core business.
'Our Jack’s brand will continue to be sold across Booker and our symbol brands, bringing great value and quality to even more customers. We want to thank our Jack’s colleagues for all they have done and taught us. Our priority is to find roles within our wider business for all the colleagues who want to stay with us.”
Changes to our counters offer
In 2019, Tesco announced a simplification of our counters business. Customer shopping behaviour has changed considerably over recent years which has led to a decrease in the number of customers using counters on a regular basis in some of its stores. This has made it necessary to review the relevance of each counter within stores.
In 279 stores where we see local customer demand for meat, fish or hot deli counters, the frim will continue to offer these counter services. However, in 317 stores where the demand is lowest, these counters will be closed and the space repurposed to better reflect customers’ needs.
There will be no redundancies related to these counters changes, as affected colleagues will be offered alternative roles.