If you live in Perth and don't much like Tesco you may want to consider moving somewhere else. The Scottish town has been officially crowned the new 'Tesco Town' - the place where the retail giant commands the highest share of the grocery market anywhere in the UK.
Tesco has a 60% share of grocery sales in Perth, according to the latest research from CACI, which uses postcode-based catchment model ProVision to calculate market shares. This dominance eclipses that of last year's joint Tesco Towns - Southall, where Tesco now has 58% of sales, and Truro, where it has 53%.
In the original Tesco Town of two years ago, Inverness, the retailer now has 56% of the market. The research also shows Tesco to be the most dominant supermarket in 81 of the UK's 121 postcodes - the same as last year. Asda has the largest market share in 19 postcodes, up from four in 2006. Sainsbury's leads in 12 areas, Morrisons in seven.
There are still some places free - or relatively free - of Tesco's influence. The chain has no stores in Lerwick and the Outer Hebrides, and has low market shares in Harrogate (1%), Sunderland (4%) and Wolverhampton (9%).
CACI has also analysed postcodes and demographics to determine which areas are ripe for development by different retailers. And despite Tesco's dominance across the country, it was still best placed of all its rivals to enter new local markets, said CACI associate director for location strategy, Paul Langston. "Tesco remains in the enviable position of being able to move into almost any market and expect to perform well," he said. "There seems to be no natural end in sight for Tesco's leadership unless the Competition Commission chooses to take action."
Although CACI said Tesco's offer would suit any postcode in the UK, it identified Bath, Derby and east Brighton as areas crying out for a new Tesco store.
The research will make bleaker reading for Sainsbury's. Areas with demographics best suited to it were already packed with rivals, said Langston. "It is much harder for Sainsbury's to find good sites," he said. "With its current profile lacking the wide appeal of Tesco, its options are further narrowed."
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