31/08/11
By Karen Moss
Tesco has announced plans to sell off its Japanese businesses after eight years of trying to break into the market. The retail giant owns 129 ‘Express’ stores in the Greater Tokyo area, half of which it says are profitable.
Philip Clarke, CEO, Tesco, says: "We have concluded that we cannot build a sufficiently scalable business.”
Analysts say the decision will shift attention to the retailer’s US business – the Fresh n Easy chain – which Clarke has vowed to turn around by 2013. Tesco will undertake a formal sale process of its Japanese business in the coming months, but in the meantime business there will continue as usual.