Content #061

Kanchanaburi, Thailand 2010
‘Lotus’s (formerly Lotus Supercenter, Tesco Lotus Supercenter and Tesco Lotus) is a retail chain in Thailand operated by Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group, with operations in Malaysia through acquisition of Tesco operations in Malaysia since 2020. Tesco Lotus started from the Lotus Supercenter chain started in 1994 by the Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group with the first store opening in Seacon Square. In 1998, British supermarket chain Tesco took a stake to create “Tesco Lotus”. CP Group sold most of its shares in Tesco Lotus in 2003. Tesco Lotus stores currently operate in five formats: Extra, Hypermarket, Department Store, Talad, and Express. Extra, Hypermarket, and Department store formats sell fresh food, prepared foods, and grocery offerings as well as a non-food offerings including electrical appliances, apparel, toys, stationery, and household goods. Talad (‘market’) is a “supermarket format” selling mainly groceries. Express is a convenience “mini-supermarket” format. Many of the products on the shelf are Tesco house brand products. The bigger stores are often set in malls and have food courts and many other shops and stalls available as well as large car parks. Tesco Lotus also offers a range of retail and financial services including bill payment, personal loans (Tesco Premier), a Tesco Visa credit card, and a Tesco insurance broker. Most recently, in April 2013, Tesco Lotus introduced online shopping. As of early-2018, Tesco Lotus’s total retail floor space stood at 1.4 million m2. In August it opened store number 2,000 in Thailand. Its biggest competitor in the Thai market is Big C. As of December 2019, Tesco Lotus had 1,967 stores in Thailand under the Tesco Lotus brand: 1,600 Tesco Lotus Express stores and about 400 other stores in hypermarket, Talad, and department store formats. Two hypermarkets opened in 2019, two more are being constructed, and 50 Tesco Lotus Express stores will open in the second-half of 2019. On 9 March 2020, Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group submitted the winning bid to purchase Tesco Lotus and Malaysian Tesco operations, for about US$10 billion. The purchase needs the approval of Thailand’s Office of Trade Competition Commission (OTCC) as the new company could constitute a monopoly, given that CP already owns 7-Eleven convenience stores and the Makro cash-and-carry business. The sale became approved in Malaysia in November 2020 and in Thailand in December 2020, with rebranding of the acquired stores begun in February 2021 which drops Tesco wording from the brand to become Lotus’s.’ Bron: Wikipedia.