Tesco feels economic squeeze with worst UK sales result for 20 years

Tesco and Sainsbury's sales suffer as shoppers turn to discounters such as Lidl and Aldi

the Guardian,

3 October, 2011

Tesco is expected to reveal this week that it has suffered its worst six months in the UK for 20 years, as cash-strapped shoppers cut back on food, books, clothes and electrical goods.

In delivering first-half financial results on Wednesday, Britain's largest retailer will report its first fall in UK like-for-like sales – which exclude gains from new stores – since the early 1990s recession. In 1991, Sainsbury's was the UK's biggest supermarket chain, and it is also expected to report sluggish sales this week.

The figures will underline how even well-established supermarkets, usually regarded as the last high-street shops to suffer in a slowing economy, are struggling in the downturn.

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