Terry Leahy

It’s been a busy year for Sir Terry Leahy, chief executive officer of Tesco. Since his company made its much-anticipated U.S. debut last year, Tesco has quickly opened 60 Fresh & Easy stores. Another recent milestone was the purchase of 36 Homever stores across the Pacific in South Korea. It won’t be long before more than half of Tesco’s turnover originates from outside the U.K., Leahy told SN.

“We’re going to be converting most of these [Homever] stores into our popular Homeplus format over the coming year, and the acquisition will help us accelerate our growth and develop our offer for customers in this important market,” Leahy said.

“These latest ventures are just another sign of how important our international business has become to the group.”

Amid the anticipation of the Fresh & Easy launch, and all of the stateside discussion on whether the new store format will ultimately succeed, one can lose sight of how well Leahy’s broader goals for Tesco have been unfolding.

“Tesco continues to execute on a plan that was laid out by Terry nearly a decade ago, with multiple prongs,” said Neil Stern, senior partner, McMillan Doolittle, a Chicago-based retail consulting firm. “Some of the keys were to be as big in nonfood as food, to be as big internationally as they are in the U.K., and so on. Remarkably, they have succeeded in every element laid out.”

With regard to Fresh & Easy, Leahy remains confident.

“As always, we’re listening to customers and making a few adjustments to the offer and store presentation,” Leahy said. “But Tim Mason and his team have done a great job, and it’ll be exciting to see how Fresh & Easy develops this year. You try to do what customers like, and if you succeed, they reward you for that with their loyalty. Tesco is really a company for all seasons, and we have to be able to handle a tough economic climate as well as we handle the good times.”

Because of the recent economic downturn, Leahy said Tesco has been focusing on offering shoppers value in recent months.

“It’s not all doom and gloom, but one way you can help customers is by offering similar products at different price points so that shoppers don’t need to go elsewhere even when the purse strings tighten,” Leahy said.

Tesco’s sustainability efforts will also continue to be a focus, and Leahy said he is excited to see how customers receive the ongoing trial of carbon-footprint labeling on some of its products in the U.K.

— AMY SUNG