“Supermarket giant Tesco is continuing its advance into consumer electronics with a trial to hand over part of its store space to Apple, the computer company behind the iPod,” Fergus Sheppard reports for The Scotsman. “The retailer has struck a deal with California-based Apple to use part of its flagship Milton Keynes store as a dedicated area for the Apple products. It is the first time Tesco has given over a dedicated part of a store to a single, non-food brand. Managers at the supermarket chain are now considering rolling out the Apple area to other stores following positive reports from the Milton Keynes trial, which launched last month. A spokesman for Tesco said: ‘It is early days at the moment, but so far it has gone very well. We will continue to look at how the trial performs before deciding whether to roll it out.'”
“Tesco’s strategy revolves around being as strong in what it terms ‘non-food’ as in food sales. Aside from the weekly shop, the supermarket generates more than £6 billion a year in non-food areas, including electronics, home entertainment – for example DVDs and computer games – clothing and health and beauty. In consumer electronics, it has even started marketing an own-brand microwave,” Sheppard reports. “The iconic iPod is likely to prove one of the most profitable sellers from the supermarket’s tie-up with Apple. Ironically, Tesco’s first entry into digital music placed it into direct competition with iTunes and Apple. In November 2004, Tesco launched a digital download services for music fans which allowed them to download tracks for 79p each. However, the songs were in the Windows Media format made by Microsoft and were not compatible with iTunes or the iPod.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews reader “Dave H” for the link.]
“The supermarket is trialling the concept at its Milton Keynes store and will roll the concept out to other Tesco Extra stores nationwide if successful. The 120 sq ft area will not operate as a concession but will stock Apple computers and accessories, as well as smaller items such as iPods,” Mark Faithfull and José Riera report for Retail Week. “An Apple spokesperson added: ‘We are working to expand our relationship with Tesco. There are currently 150 Tesco stores selling iPods and the Milton Keynes store is the first to trial the combination of iPod and computer accessories in a dedicated space.’ Apple announced expansion of its European operations earlier this week, with standalone stores in Germany and Italy.”
Full article here.
[UPDATE 12:28pm EST: Added Retail Week information and changed headline to reflect possibilities of inclusion of Mac models.]
This is a big deal for Apple. Tesco has over 2,000 stores worldwide.
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Related article:
Tesco to start selling Apple iPods across the UK – May 20, 2005
This thread is hilarious – keep it up guys.
From,
An British ex-pat living in Spain!
I like Americans. They’re so LOUD it makes them easy to spot . . . and avoid. All gloss, no substance.
And when you think about it, our “brown meat” here in Britain doesn’t hold a candle to your McDonald’s “burgers” -if that’s what you can really call them. Cuz I don’t think they’re real meat. Talk about inflicting shit on the world. But they’re good enough for one thing: The patties are small enough for you Yanks to SHOVE THEM UP YOUR ASS!
Bet you yanks think of Apple as a great AMERICAN company. Run by a Syrian, selling products designed by a Brit and assembled in Taiwan from parts made in China.
This is EXCELLENT news. My nearest store was in Birmingham, 2 hours drive away. Now I can just go to Tesco, half an hour away!! Possibly too teasing, having them so close but unable to buy just yet.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”downer” style=”border:0;” /> Still, this is good news for conversion of the Windoze Drones. Tesco, being the biggest UK supermarket should create huge sales for Apple, as people will see this wonderful machine, and have to fiddle with it.
Hey Scones Suck Too,
Ouch dude! Do you really want to talk about spelling and dictionary definitions?
This truly is a welcomed light-hearted slamfest, escpecially after that fucking explosion over who is the bigger philanthropist – Gates or Jobs. That thread was bitter to the core.
I can hear those blips at the check-out scanner….two twinkies *blip-Blip* and a Quad G5…
One thing the Brits definitely have over us is that the £ is almost worth TWICE as much as the $. I had a couple of things imported from there and I almost had to declare brankruptcy afterwards……
Top Ten Things This American Likes About England…
10. CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien – wow, just wow.
9. Shakespeare – Sonnet 25 is my favorite
8. Fish and Chips – with malt vinegar… ooooohhhhh the best
7. The Royals, they are the only thing worse that either Bush or Clinton
6. Pubs – great way to meet the locals
5. James Bond – I know he’s fictitious, but so dang cool
4. The House of Commons – good for a laugh on late night TV
3. If not for them and the Aussies, who WOULD be our friends in the world?
2. The way so many of them still talk about our revolution as “that minor disagreement we had.”
and the number one reason this yank loves the brits!!!!!!??????
1. ELIZABETH HURLEY!!!!!! – shaaaaawwinnnnggggggg!
Sorry, Jim^ . . .
. . . but your Number One reason to love British things shouldn’t have been Elizabeth Hurley. She’s yesterday’s news. It should instead be:
KATE BECKINSALE!!!!!!
Holy mother of KeeRIST! That woman is a BEE-autiful piece of British -ss! Sorry to be crude, but WOW.
Man oh man, I just saw her on Leno tonight, and I gotta tell you– STUNNING! Absolutely stunning. And self-effacing, charming, intelligent, killer body . . . [wipes mouth]
I now bow down to all things British.
I hope it does not go ahead in all Tesco stores – only those without an Apple retailer reasonably close.
My nearest independent apple reseller (wholly Apple retailer) is Gordon Garwood http://www.ghc.co.uk/
The instructions on finding their store:
http://www.ghc.co.uk/pdf_files/map/MapFindingHarwoods.pdf
Should give a feel for the proximity of a (very large) Tesco (about 100 yards away).
If this branch of Tesco started selling Apple products I would guess that Gordon Harwood would soon be out of business as a fair proportion of their sales would be grabbed by Tesco.
I hope Apple take such local considerations intro account, and give thought to retailers who have been loyal to them for years who would be blown away by Tesco creaming off some of their sales.
Malt Vinegar RULES! (although it is available in the States). I drink the stuff…..