Tesco is developing a credibility problem

Implications: A three month planned delay? Come on guys, we may have been your colonies and were conditioned to believe what the "Mother Country" tells us is true, but we are not stupid! Not only did Tesco launch one of the most irresponsible invasion plans that this writer has seen in 40 years of observing the retail real estate scene, but over the past several months they have issued announcements that seriously distort the truth about the success of their efforts. Now they want us to believe that they had planned this delay all along and ignore the fact that they will be paying rent on 19 stores that are leased and ready for merchandize.

Analysis: As regular readers of GLG News already know, the Grocery and Retail real estate industries have viewed Tesco's US invasion plans with amazement and suspicion from their earliest announcements of its' unprecedented size, speed and scope.
 
As recently as two weeks ago they were denying the well researched reports coming in from suppliers, brokers and their own store managers, that they were missing their projections by as much as 70%! Last week they were denying reports about the serious decline in the market share and sales of both their UK grocery and department store operations.

Today they are hit with a double dose of "pigeons coming home to roost" with the announcement of a three month delay in store openings (even applying to 19 stores already built and scheduled to open in March) plus the announcement by one of the most credible research reporting companies confirming the widely circulating rumors about their UK retail operations fallen from a 31% market share to a 30% share.

GLG readers should congratulate themselves for relying on the early warning system provided by GLG News.