Tesco, the UK’s biggest retailer, recently opened three F&F clothing stores in the Philippines with its local franchise partner, Stores Specialists. Seven more stores are slated to open in the Southeast Asian nation by the end of this year.
With brick and mortar F&F stores in twenty countries worldwide, Tesco’s clothing brand now has a major global presence.
Referring to store openings in the Philippines, F&F chief executive Jason Tarry said, “These new stores, as well as our recent openings in the Middle East, show how committed we are to making F&F a truly global affordable fashion brand.”
F&F recently opened stores in Dubai, Bahrain and Jordan under an agreement with franchiser Al Futtaim of Dubai.
Besides its stores in China, Malaysia, Poland, Thailand and Turkey, F&F also sells its clothing online in thirty additional countries.
As F&F’s brand expanded, parent company Tesco was cutting its middle management team, continuing a series of changes among senior and middle managers started last August in an effort to beef up its sagging domestic profits.
The cuts are designed to eliminate redundancies among managers at Tesco’s non-food units at central and local operations.
Some senior executive level cuts were also recently reported, including Tesco Clubcard marketing director Ian Crook and Tesco Mobile chief executive Roger Fogg.
Management positions at Tesco’s grocery unit could increase, however, as the result of a study of multichannel marketing and its effect on retailing currently being conducted by the firm.
Tesco’s multiple brands and operations have undergone periodic reorganizations since Peter Clarke became CEO in 2011.