British Invasion

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Approximately 90 acres have been bought for Tesco plc's distribution center that will supply some of its future convenience stores.

The 88.4 acre property will serve a string of stores that Tesco plans to open in California, reported The Press-Enterprise.

The property is located west of I-215, at the 1,000-acre Meridian business park near the March Air Reserve Base between Riverside and Perris, the report stated.

The area along I-215 and I-15 from Riverside to Ontario is an expanding center for distribution centers for numerous companies to supply products in the state. Dennis Rice, president of Ridge Property Trust told the paper "the Tesco deal validates [the corridor]." Ridge Property recently broke ground on an industrial complex along I-215.

Riverside County Supervisor Bob Buster told the newspaper that,"[Tesco] would likely be a stable tenant, and from the standpoint of providing jobs, that is a good thing."

Greg Sage, international corporate affairs manager for Tesco, did not confirm speculations on the July 15 purchase, but he did respond to the The Press-Enterprise through e-mail, stating that the company does plan a distribution center east of Los Angeles.

The land is located next to another food-distribution warehouse owned by McLane Foodservice.

The Press-Enterprise reported that the company plans to open its chain of Tesco Express c-stores in 2007 at a cost of $460 million a year.

Tesco, a $59 billion United Kingdom-based retailer, plans to open at least 100 stores in the U.S. in its first year of operations. The stores will directly compete with the likes of 7-Eleven and other c-store chains. For a complete look at a Tesco Express store in London, see the Aug. 7 issue of Convenience Store News.
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