THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2008

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British Superstore Could Make Way To Suburbs

A new merchandising chain called Tesco could be coming to Arlington Heights sometime this year, but the company has not contacted the village as of yet, according to Arlington Heights Village Planner Charles Perkins.

Tesco is a British-based international grocery and general merchandising retail chain. It is the largest British retailer in both global sales and domestic market share, and is the world's third-largest retailer, behind Wal-mart in the United States and Carrefour in France.

Tesco now controls over 30% of the grocery market in the UK, approximate to the combined market share of its closest rivals.

Originally specializing in food, it has diversified into areas such as discount clothes, consumer electronics, consumer financial services, selling and renting DVD's, compact discs, and music downloads, Internet service, consumer telecoms, consumer health insurance, consumer dental plans and budget software.

"The discussion of Tesco coming into Arlington Heights is very premature," said Perkins. "We would love to have them here, but we would need to sit down with corporate executives and figure out the right location and parameters."

Perkins said Tesco could be compared to the Meijer mega-store located on Algonquin Road in Rolling Meadows. He also said more significant details could come to the forefront within the next couple months.