nickshanagher

The Harris and Hoole story about Tesco's not so independent coffee chain has several lessons for independent retailers. Broughtonscoffeehouse has written an interesting blog on how the national press has got the story wrong. Coffee industry insiders, it says, know that this is a case of an artisan coffee shop getting the backing of a big supermarket chain. Not, as the papers say, a case of Tesco dressing up its multinational offering as something local. Just as Paul Fisher may feel the only way he could preserve his independent supermarket was by way of a joint venture with Sainsbury, so Nick Tolley of Harris and Hoole sees the Tesco deal as integral to his business plan. He says he wants his managers to think about the local community, to source product locally and to hire locally."We design each of our shops individually so that each local town or neighbourhood feels like it's got something unique to call their own; we're not some pre-fabricated, soulless temp...