Retail

Tesco (CZ)

Tesco brings a new department store concept to the Czech Republic

In February, Tesco launched a store format with a completely new design in the Czech Republic.

The first new department store opened with the name "My Liberec" in Liberec, the largest city in northern Bohemia. The store, located in the new "Forum Liberec" shopping centre, has intentionally not been given the name "Tesco". Instead, the third-largest retailer in the world is aiming to convey regional proximity, which creates identity, to its Czech customers – and is doing so by naming the store after the city. "My Liberec" is the flagship store showcasing Tesco's new department store format in the Czech Republic. The retailer developed this innovative concept in conjunction with British designers, von Fitch. The resulting store in Liberec provides more than 5,000 square metres of floor space over two floors. The upper floor, covering 2,300 square metres, houses the attractive food hall with its substantial fresh food department. A travelator leads the way to the lower floor and the actual department store – here, "My Liberec" offers a successful mix of clothing, cosmetics, home furnishings and household goods.

In February, Tesco launched a store format with a completely new design in the Czech Republic.

Wanzl fitted the entire food hall – with the exception of the fruit and vegetable department – with the "wire tech" shopfitting system.

In addition, Wanzl's "high rack" solutions present household goods and home furnishings in an attractive manner on the floor below. The Czech customers like the new store. As a result, Tesco is planning to refurbish other, existing department stores in the style of the new concept. These stores will also include the name of their respective towns/cities in the "My" lettering.

Wanzl fitted the entire food hall – with the exception of the fruit and vegetable department – with the "wire tech" shopfitting system.

An interview with

Martin Dufek, Shelving Co-ordinator for the Czech Republic and Slovakia from Property Fit Out Tesco, is discussing the "wire tech" shopfitting system, the co-operation with Wanzl and Tesco's new department store format.

Why did Tesco first decide to fit the entire food department of "My Liberec" using Wanzl's "wire tech" shopfitting system?

The main reasons were its outstanding design, its loading capacity, even under great loads, and the high stability of the individual modules.

And which section of the food department do you like best today?

My clear favourite is the spirits section, with its truly high-quality and unusual shopfitting presentation. On the semicircular end display units, goods are always displayed perfectly from the front and neatly arranged for the customer, with clear product descriptions. In my opinion, this department is fitted out perfectly.

Were you satisfied with the entire course of the project?

Wanzl always delivered individual components punctually and also managed to adhere to extremely tight delivery deadlines.

This was of paramount importance for us, as specific details are always changing on a project of this magnitude. As such, I was particularly concerned about the delivery deadlines during the initial stages of the project, as I know from working with other suppliers that importing from Germany cannot always be carried out at short notice. However, Wanzl was able to fulfil all our wishes and requirements in the best possible manner. Even the assembly was carried out without any problems. Looking back, I can again confirm that everything truly did go to plan with Wanzl.

What would your concluding remarks be and, more importantly, what do your customers say about the new "My Liberec" store?

I am impressed by the new Tesco department store concept, which was first implemented in the "My Liberec" store. The new image will now be introduced gradually in the other Tesco department stores throughout the whole of the Czech Republic. This kind of revival is exactly what we need in our country for the department store retail format. The new "My Liberec" store has clearly gone down well with customers. We are constantly gathering reactions and opinions for the new store format, as customer satisfaction takes absolute priority.

Tesco has been active on the Czech market since 1996.

Today, the British retailer operates more than 100 outlets, including hypermarkets, supermarkets, department stores and the smaller Tesco Express convenience stores. Tesco prefers Wanzl shopping trolleys for these stores. In February 2009, the new department store format was started with the "My Liberec" store, and here too, Wanzl delivered

  • 350 EL 101 type shopping trolleys with POWER COATING surfaces and equipped with travelator castors
  • Shopping trolleys for wheelchair users
  • HW 20 shopping baskets
Tesco has been active on the Czech market since 1996.