It’s difficult to escape from this job - especially right now: when I come home at night, my son’s favourite book is called ‘Dinosaurs in the supermarket’.
On the one hand, this is a children’s book about how dinosaurs are hiding in supermarket shelves - and only the kids can see them, because their parents are too busy to notice.
On the other hand, each time I read the book (ie every night), I can’t help wondering if ‘Dinosaurs in the Supermarket’ is an insidious title for the next new management book, in which the thesis is that big box out-of-town supermarkets have grown increasingly outdated through a combination of higher petrol prices and the meteoric growth of online.
”Tesco will attempt to reinvent the out-of-town hypermarket with a host of services. Can it prove the dinosaur isn’t dead?”
Adam Leyland, Editor
It’s a thesis many already subscribe to. Morrisons CEO Dalton Philips predicted in March 2012 that hypermarkets would be a blip on the pages of retail history. And so serious is the structural change the industry is undergoing that Asda is paying McKinsey a reported £5m for new solutions. Nor is the problem limited to the UK. Carrefour’s expensive attempts to create excitement in France’s retail parks through its Planet concept have so far failed.
But while Sainsbury’s continues to espouse the virtues of the superstore model, the most interesting response to date has come from Tesco. Its acquisition of the Giraffe family dining restaurant chain, the stake it’s taken in the Harris & Hoole coffee chain, the installation of Euphorium bakeries and - two weeks ago - news that it was to introduce gyms on some of its mezzanine floors, has garnered tons of coverage for Tesco. But as UK MD Chris Bush reveals in this week’s issue, these ideas are just for starters, as Tesco attempts to reinvent the out-of-town hypermarket with a host of further services, including nail and hair salons, food courts and a community area in which it’s possible to take yoga or cooking classes.
The assumption of many is that rivals will soon follow Tesco’s suit. In my experience they are likely to wait and see how Tesco gets on. But if Tesco is a dinosaur, at least it’s trying to move faster, rather than being merely fierce.
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