Tesco put an end to the controversy surrounding its dominance in Slough this week by closing the superstore at the centre of the debate.
The move comes as the retailer re-opened its newly refurbished 101,000 sq ft Extra store on Monday (August 1), just over half a mile away from the superstore where it was trading during the refit.
Concern over competition in Slough came to light in November 2003 when Tesco bought the superstore from the Co-operative Group. Subsequently, figures compiled for The Grocer by CACI revealed that the deal was forecast to drive up Tesco’s market share in the area from 40% to 52%.
The two stores eventually traded side by side for a year before the refurbishment on the kingsize Extra hypermarket started in January this year, although Tesco insisted this was due to the planning and consultation process taking longer than expected.
Nevertheless, Tesco moved to quell pressure from the Office of Fair Trading by saying it had no intention of running the two stores in the long term.
The move comes as the retailer re-opened its newly refurbished 101,000 sq ft Extra store on Monday (August 1), just over half a mile away from the superstore where it was trading during the refit.
Concern over competition in Slough came to light in November 2003 when Tesco bought the superstore from the Co-operative Group. Subsequently, figures compiled for The Grocer by CACI revealed that the deal was forecast to drive up Tesco’s market share in the area from 40% to 52%.
The two stores eventually traded side by side for a year before the refurbishment on the kingsize Extra hypermarket started in January this year, although Tesco insisted this was due to the planning and consultation process taking longer than expected.
Nevertheless, Tesco moved to quell pressure from the Office of Fair Trading by saying it had no intention of running the two stores in the long term.
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