New Tesco stores to sell everything but food

Tesco is to start opening stores that do not sell any food.

Britain's biggest grocer announced today that it is to begin trials of Tesco Homeplus outlets in October. The pilot stores will be in Aberdeen and Manchester but the format will be adopted elsewhere if successful.

They will sell a range of Tesco products, including DVDs, stationery, books and clothes.

The move follows a similar initiative by Asda. Both companies, traditionally known as food supermarkets, have seen huge growth in their nonfood ranges in recent years. Tesco sold ? 6billion of non-food goods last year, up 17 per cent. Much of these sales were at its out-of-town Extra hypermarkets.

Sales from Tesco's nonfood ranges are growing at twice the rate of its food lines and are a major factor behind the firm's huge growth in profits.

Tesco is now selling more non-food goods than Marks & Spencer. Only Dixons has a bigger share of the UK's nonfood retail market.