Business Strategy and Planning Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business Strategy and Planning - Case Study Example During the 1960s, distribution was decentralised. In 1973 the company became a plc. The oil crisis of the early 1970s forced it to improve efficiency. During the 1980s and early 1990s expansion into the north-east of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland made it 'national' in the scale of its operations. By the end of 1994 (Sainsbury's 125th year), the company had 355 stores in UK and an off-shore store in Calais. With the start of the new millennium Sainsbury's sold Homebase and Shaws Supermarkets to focus on the core UK business, comprising Sainsbury's Supermarkets, Sainsbury's Local, Sainsbury's online and Sainsbury's Bank. The acquisition of convenience store chains Bells Stores, Jacksons, JB Beaumont and SL Shaw increased its presence in the UK convenience sector. Today Sainsbury's serves 16 million customers each week in 455 supermarkets and 301 convenience stores across UK. The company employs 153,000 workers to deliver 'Great Food at Fair Prices'. Sainsbury's sells 6bn of British food every year, and in March 2006, reported a 5.3% rise in sales, its fifth quarter growth in a row. Sainsbury's was for decades the premier supermarket in the UK; it lost this position however in 1995 to Tesco, further slipping to No.3 in 2003 behind Walmart-owned ASDA. According to the latest TNS rankings released in June 2006, Sainsbury's remains the UK's third largest supermarket on 16.0% market share, while ASDA remains second largest at 16.4% and Tesco has increased its share to 31.1% (The information in the above paragraphs were collected, paraphrased, collated and abridged from the four web sites of: (1) http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/home/htm, (2) www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/ (3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sainsbury and (4) http://www.fairinvestment.co/uk/default.aspx, all retrieved August 8, 2006). About TESCO. Tesco is the largest British supermarket chain and has significant operations in other countries. Originally specializing in food they have moved into areas such as clothes, consumer electronics and cars. By 2003 it had over 2000 stores, including a large number of convenience stores in the UK. Outside of the United Kingdom they also operate in the Republic of Ireland, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, and Malaysia. Tesco was founded by Jack Cohen, who was selling groceries in the markets of the London East End from 1919. The first Tesco store was opened in 1929 in Edgware, London. The firm was floated on the stock exchange in 1947. The first Tesco self-service store opened in 1948 in St Albans and was still trading as of 2002. The first Tesco supermarket was opened in 1956 in Maldon, Essex. Its first "superstore" was opened in 1968 in Crawley, West Sussex. It began selling petrol in 1974 and its annual turnover reached 1000 million pounds in 1979. It introduced a loyalty card in 1995 and later an Internet shopping service. During the 1990s it expanded into Eastern Europe, Ireland and East Asia. In July 2001 it became involved in internet grocery retailing in the USA when it obtained a 35% stake in GroceryWorks. Tesco has expanded also by taking over other chains, including: Victor Value, England, 1968