You probably know that Tesco is coming to America. But some more of the story was revealed in a recent WSJ article, summaried by Tim Manners at Reveries. You've got to love the gonzo approach Sir Terry takes as he heads ashore, and his plannerly curiosity:
Terry & Tesco. Yet another lad from Liverpool is set to invade America, reports Cecilie Rohwedder in The Wall Street Journal (6/28/07). He may not have a mop-top, and he may not shake up teenage girls, but Sir Terry Leahy, ceo of Tesco plc, sounds like he's more than ready to rave across America's west coast this fall. Tesco is, after all, "the world's third-largest retailer by sales after Wal-Mart and Carrefour" ($84.9 billion), and Sir Terry says he's done his homework on Americans and what they really want in a grocery store. Nobody knows exactly what Tesco's first 100 U.S. stores will be like -- other than small format -- but we do know that they will be designed just for Americans.
"No one store gives them everything they want," says Terry. "You would think it is the home of the one-stop shop but it's not." He arrived at that conclusion only after his team moved in with American families, and "went through their fridges ... we're good at research," says Terry. Tesco then tested such observations in a top-secret prototype store, built inside a warehouse. "We claimed it was a movie set so that people would deliver all these goods and not think it was us," says Terry. ( Paging Homeland Security! :-). "We took ordinary people in, and they really, really liked it," he adds.
Terry also says "climate change" is one of the biggest subjects among consumers, but that most don't know what to do about it. Tesco does. They cut in half the price of low-energy bulbs. "And once we do that," says Terry, "... our competitors ... reduce the price for low-energy bulbs, so now low-energy bulbs are a no-brainer for people." In other words, Tesco listens. "Many organizations say they listen, but they're very selective in what they allow themselves to hear," says Terry. "The great thing about customers is that they're very honest people." And the great thing about America, says Terry, is that "it's a place that rewards innovative retailers." Terry says he's especially excited about Tesco's tortillas, their yogurt, and their Viognier.
I just rediscovered a holiday card I received from Greenberg Brand Strategy late last year. It has a nice quote that I thought I'd share. 
