Businessman Rupert James shares his views on the problems at Tesco
Jack Cohen founded Tesco; his wife was called Tessa Cohen. That is where the name comes from. It grew far too quickly and it has become too big. Now this behemoth is unsurprisingly reaping what it has sown.
Tesco destroyed village shops, they destroyed local butchers, fishmongers and grocers and I won’t even mention the thousands of farmers who’ve royally been screwed by them. Here is a business that has been arrogantly run and arrogance in business is unwise. In the end, arrogance usually bites you in the arse and Tesco is now experiencing just that.
Tesco is floating around representing no particular demographic. People go to M&S, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s and people also go to Aldi and Lidl because they know what each of them represents. Tesco, though, is a colossus with clay feet and it will go on losing market share until it decides what it stands for. It is no wonder that this company has got “accounting problems”: It can thank its very own arrogance.
Rupert James is a British businessman. Follow him on Twitter at @Rupsiabout.
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