Tesco PLC (LON:TSCO), the UK’s largest supermarket group, is set to launch its new discount chain - Jack’s - next week, according to reports.
The first of the stores will be unveiled by the supermarket group’s CEO, Dave Lewis, in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, on Wednesday, September 19, the Guardian reported.
READ: Tesco’s new discount chain to rival Aldi and Lidl could open within six weeks
The new chain will be called ‘Jack’s’ after Jack Cohen, who founded a business in 1919 that became Tesco, the report added.
The move is seen as part of a drive by the FTSE 100-listed retailer to claw back some of the market share won by discount rivals Aldi and Lidl in recent years.
“Whether or not Jack moves the dial for Tesco UK or the group for that matter is also an interesting rhetorical question; why embrace a potentially major piece of work for it to be marginal? Hence, Jack's potential arrival does bring with it a modicum of excitement,” Shore Capital analyst Clive Black said in a note to clients.
The broker cited media reports saying sites in Immingham, Liverpool and St. Helens had been earmarked for potential conversions to Jack's outlets. Tesco has 2,659 stores in the UK, including 172 smaller ‘Metro’ stores.
Rival Sainsbury’s launched a discount retailer with Danish firm Netto in 2014 but the joint venture closed its 16 stores two years later after failing to turn a profit.
Shares in Tesco, which have risen around 10% in the last six months, were 1.4% up at 240.20p in early afternoon trade.