Leading supermarket chain Tesco is to branch out into non-food stores in a move that will put increasing pressure on high street retailers.
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Tesco, which has a 29% share of the grocery retail market and a 12% share of all UK retail sales, plans to open its first non-food store this year, reported The Financial Times.
The company has not yet decided on a location for the trial store, which will sell clothes, DVDs and electrical goods, but said that if the format is successful further non-food stores will follow.
Non-food sales currently account for around 20% of Tesco’s turnover, but the retailer has just 6.5% of the UK’s non-food retail market.
“We will trial a non-food store at some point this year,” the company was quoted by the FT as saying. “Shoppers expect us to try out new ideas.”
Tesco’s biggest rival, Wal-Mart’s Asda, already has a non-food store, as well as a chain of high-street clothing outlets under the George banner.
