The Strategist

Tesco to close last six Homeplus stores in Britain



05/13/2015 - 05:24





Tesco to close last six Homeplus stores in Britain
Britain-based department store chain Tesco has announced that it would close the remaining six Homeplus stores in the country.
 
The closure is expected to happen in the cities of Bristol, Bracknell, Nottingham, Denton, Bromborough and Preston by next month. The stores which sold clothing, electrical goods and furniture were included in 43 store closures Tesco revealed in January.
 
To curb the increased backlash against the company, Tesco has announced that it will try to offer affected workers alternative roles. "We've taken the difficult decision to close our remaining six Homeplus stores. Our priority is now to explain what this announcement means for our colleagues and wherever possible, offer them alternative roles with Tesco," said a spokesman for the retailer. Six other Homeplus stores were closed last month.
 
Tesco Chief executive Dave Lewis unveiled a plan in January to cut costs and close and sell certain Tesco stores due to stiffer competition from cheaper rivals such as Aldi and Lidl. The company also reported the worst results in its history with a record pre-tax loss of £6.4bn for the year to the end of February. The company has also been affected by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) after it overstated its half-year profit forecast last August by £263m.
 
Homeplus previously employed 840 staff, with 390 jobs lost when the earlier tranche of stores closed two months ago. The latest blow comes on top of the 43 group-wide store closures announced in January, affecting 2,000 staff.
 
Tesco is the third largest retailer in the world measured by profits and second largest retailer in the world when measured by revenues. It has stores in 12 countries across Asia and Europe and is the grocery market leader in the UK (where it has a market share of around 28.4%), Ireland, Hungary, Malaysia, and Thailand.