Tesco branches out into pet grooming services

Britain retailer, Tesco is set to trial pet grooming services from next month onwards. The trial, which could be rolled out across more of the supermarket's 6,800 stores in the UK, is part of Chief Executive, Dave Lewis' plans to re-purpose Tesco's vast Extra stores, reported PTI.

Tesco, facing fierce grocery price war and growing popularity of online purchases, is planning to open a 'Pet Den' in its Culverhouse Cross store in Cardiff next month that will allow shoppers to have their cats and dogs preened while they shop.

Enthusiasm for superstores in the UK has waned significantly as shoppers opt to make more frequent trips to convenience stores or buy items online. The decision to move into the pet grooming market comes as people are increasingly spending more on their animals in tune with Britain's reputation as a nation of animal lovers. Euromonitor has forecast a 3% rise in pet care spending in 2015, to 4.6 billion pounds in the UK, the report further added.

"We are always looking at new ways our stores can best serve the needs of local customers, so we decided to trial introducing some great brands to five stores which complement our existing offer, including plans for a Pet Den at our Culverhouse Cross store in Cardiff," informed a Tesco spokesperson.

In 2014, Tesco had entered into an agreement with Trent Limited, part of the Tata Group, to form a 50:50 joint venture in Trent Hypermarket Limited (THL) which operates the Star Bazaar retail business in India.