UK-based supermarket chain Tesco has reportedly shared plans to carry out a rebranding process for its Metro stores over the coming months.
The move is part of a major operational restructuring programme announced by the company in 2019.
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The operational overhaul will affect 147 Metro format stores. The store format was launched in 1994.
The decision, revealed internally to staff on 18 May, is also based on changes in customer behaviours, according to British newspaper The Mirror.
Tesco has three physical store formats, namely Express, Metro and Extra. The Metro stores are likely to be rebranded to the other two formats.
According to media sources, 89 Metro locations will be rebranded as Tesco Express stores, while the remaining 58 will be rebranded as Extra superstores.
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By GlobalDataA spokeswoman told The Mirror that the retailer would continue to trade as usual during the process and that no employees would be affected.
When announcing the restructure in 2019, the company cut 4,500 jobs and discontinued many of its product lines.
In a statement to staff, Tesco said: “Over the last few years, we have seen our customers’ shopping habits change and we have taken the decision to rebrand all of our Metro stores to better reflect this.
“The changes in our Metro stores will be focused on better tailoring them to how our customers shop.
“The Metro format was originally designed for larger, weekly shops, but today nearly 70% of customers use them as convenience stores, buying food for that day.”
In February, Lotus’s Malaysia, the new owner of Tesco Malaysia’s business, announced that its rebranding exercise should be finished by the end of this year.
Last year, Tesco divested its business in Malaysia and Thailand to Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group) for an enterprise value of $10.6bn.
