Tesco closing four Jack’s stores in Merseyside and shutting 317 meat and deli counters

Tesco is closing its meat, fish and deli counters across 317 of its stores and is axing its Jack’s discount supermarket chain.

Merseyside will lose four Jack’s stores, with three closing for good and one reopening as a large Tesco.

The counter closures will impact hundreds of workers, but the retailer has not yet disclosed how many staff will be affected.

Tesco said the closures will be made in stores with the “lowest demand”, following changes in customer shopping habits.

The company said it will now have only 279 stores with meat, fish and deli counters after seeing a “decrease” in the number of customers using the counters on a regular basis.

The retailer said it will “repurpose” the counters across the 317 stores impacted and staff affected will be offered alternative roles.

Jack’s discount brand to close

Tesco is also closing seven of its 13 Jack’s discount stores which will impact 130 jobs across the sites, plus its head office.

The remaining six Jack’s outlets are set to become Tesco stores.

On Merseysdie, outlets in St Helens, Walton and Liverpool North will be closed down, while the Jack’s store in Edgehill will be turned into a large Tesco store.

The Jack’s brand was launched in 2019 to try and take on the growth of German discount rivals Alid and Lidl.

The retailer said it has “learned a tremendous amount” from the business, but it instead plans to focus on delivering “great value” in its core business.

Jason Tarry, Tesco UK and Republic of Ireland chief executive, said: “Our Jack’s brand will continue to be sold across Booker and our symbol brands, bringing great value and quality to even more customers.

“We want to thank our Jack’s colleagues for all they have done and taught us.

“Our priority is to find roles within our wider business for all the colleagues who want to stay with us.”

Which stores are closing?

Jack’s stores will be closing in the following locations:

- Hull- St Helens- Walton- Castle Bromwich- Middlewich- Barnsley- Liverpool North

The remaining Jack’s stores will become large Tesco stores in these locations:

- Chatteris- Immingham- Edgehill- Rubery- Sheffield- Wakefield