Tesco has acquired three stores from the independent, family-run retailer Proudfoot Group.
The stores are located in the Newby, Seamer and Manham Hill areas of Scarborough, which have been supplied by Co-op Wholesale, formerly Nisa, since 1980.
The Seamer and Manham Hill stores will reopen as Tesco Express stores in the autumn, with the Newby store reopening as a Tesco Superstore early in the new year.
Proudfoot Group’s fourth food store in Eastfield, just south of Scarborough, will be retained by Proudfoot and continue operating as normal.
“We are pleased to pass on our established, award-winning stores to the UK’s leading supermarket retailer Tesco, which already has a presence across Scarborough and the surrounding areas,” said Proudfoot director Valerie Aston.
“We have carefully considered this decision and we believe these stores will continue to flourish, offering market-leading services to the local communities they serve.
“I would like to take a moment to express our gratitude for the loyal support of our colleagues, suppliers and customers and we would like to thank them whole-heartedly for being part of our story for over 75 years.”
Tesco retail director for convenience in the north Andy Sanderson said: “We’re pleased to have reached this agreement with Proudfoot, giving Tesco the opportunity to serve more customers in Newby, Seamer and Manham Hill.
“Proudfoot has a long and proud history in these communities, and we look forward to building on the strong local relationships already in place.
“Our immediate focus is supporting colleagues and working closely with the Proudfoot team as we prepare to open the new stores later this year. We’re excited to play our part in supporting customers and communities across Scarborough for years to come.”
In 2007, Proudfoot Group sold a supermarket in North Yorkshire to Aldi during a famous row with Tesco over predatory pricing. The Proudfoot Group said it was selling the 14,000 sq ft store in Withernsea because it felt it could no longer compete effectively with Tesco.
At the time, joint MD Mark Proudfoot said the store had never recovered from the impact of a voucher-based discounting campaign run by Tesco in 2004 which had a big impact on its sales.
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