INTRODUCTIONTesco is one of the best known names on the high street. It is a large public limited company (plc) with around 165,000 shareholders. By 1995, Tesco had become the largest food retailer in the UK, overtaking Sainsbury's. The company operates over 800 stores across Europe. BUSINESS OBJECTIVES Tesco sets objectives for the four main areas of its business: customers operations people (i.e. employees) shareholders. Figure 1: The Tesco steering wheel Page 5: Development of Tesco, Tesco presence in Central Europe After service During the First World War, Jack Cohen used his savings and began selling groceries in the markets of London's East End . Tesco was founded in 1924. The name was based on the initials of T. E. Stockwell, a partner in a tea supplier firm, and the first two letters of Cohen. In 1929 the first shop opened in Edgware, North London. The business prospered and, in 1947, Tesco Stores (Holdings) Ltd was floated on the stock exchange. In 1956 the first self-service supermarket opened. As well as opening new stores, Tesco has expanded by taking over other businesses. For example, in 1992, it purchased 57 William Low stores in Scotland and, in 1997, it purchased 109 stores in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland from ABF pie. Tesco is an ambitious company with plans to open new stores in the United States. Kingdom (UK). However, in recent years, an important part of the company's strategy has been to open stores in other European countries.Page 6: Tesco Stores 1998, New Tesco Store OpeningFigure 3: Tesco Stores, Store Sales 1998 (£m )Ireland 109 1028France 103 644Hungary 43 57Poland 31 22Czech Republic 6 84Slovakia 7 61United Kingdom 534 14640NEW TESCO STORE OPENINGTesco's sales in Europe have increased steadily. Expanding into Central European countries, such as those shown on the map in Figure 2, can be risky because sales may not be as high as expected. Average incomes and expenses are lower in these countries, but they have the potential to grow. The cost of a good site is also much lower than in the UK. The company plans to open more new stores in Europe, which requires more investment. Each superstore contributes between £2m and £3m a year to the local economy, in wages and other store costs..