Asda facts for kids
Logo used since 2002
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Asda House in Leeds, the supermarket's headquarters
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Trade name
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Asda |
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Formerly
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| Private | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 19 February 1949 in Knottingley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England |
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| Headquarters | Leeds, West Yorkshire, England |
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Number of locations
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829 (2023) |
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Area served
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United Kingdom |
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Key people
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Lord Rose (Chairman) |
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| Brands | Leon Restaurants |
| Services |
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| Revenue |  £20.4 billion (excluding fuel, 2022) |
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Operating income
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 £886 million (2022) |
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Number of employees
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145,000 (2022) |
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| Subsidiaries |
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Asda Stores Limited, usually called Asda, is a big supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. Its main office is in Leeds, England. The company started in 1949 as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores.
Asda grew a lot in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1999, Walmart, a huge American company, bought Asda for £6.7 billion. For many years, Asda was the second-largest supermarket in the UK.
Besides its main supermarkets, Asda also offers other services. These include payment cards, insurance, and mobile phone services under the Asda Money and Asda Mobile brands.
In 2021, the Issa brothers and TDR Capital bought Asda. Walmart still owns a part of Asda and has a business relationship with them. This happened after a planned merger with another supermarket, Sainsbury's, was stopped by the government.
Contents
History of Asda
How Asda Started
The Asquith family were butchers in Knottingley, West Yorkshire. In the 1920s, they had seven butcher shops. Peter and Fred Asquith later helped start Asda.
At the same time, dairy farmers in West Yorkshire, including the Stockdale family, joined together. In 1949, their company became Associated Dairies and Farm Stores Ltd.
Growing in the 1960s and 1970s
In 1963, the Asquith brothers turned an old cinema into a self-service supermarket called 'Queens' in Castleford. They opened another store soon after.
In 1965, the Asquith brothers joined with Associated Dairies. This created a new company called Asda, which stands for Asquith + Dairies.
By 1969, Noel Stockdale bought out the Asquith brothers' share and became the chairman. Asda became known for offering low prices in large supermarkets. They bought some struggling stores from a US retail group, which helped them grow quickly.
During the 1970s, Asda had over 30 stores in the north of England. They started opening new stores in the south, like in Plymouth and Gosport in 1977. In 1982, the first London store opened.
Challenges and Changes in the 1980s and 1990s
In 1985, Asda merged with MFI, a furniture company, and was renamed Asda-MFI Group plc. Asda's main office, "Asda House," opened in 1988.
By the end of the 1990s, Asda launched its own clothing brand called George.
Asda bought many large stores from a rival called Gateway Superstores in 1989. This made Asda much bigger, but they borrowed a lot of money to do it. By 1991, Asda was in serious financial trouble with a lot of debt.
To fix this, Asda changed its leaders and lowered its prices. They also sold off some of their businesses. By 1995, Asda was making a profit again and had paid off most of its debt. This is seen as one of the most successful turnarounds in British retail history.
Asda started to make its stores look more like Walmart stores. In 1998, Asda began opening very large 'Hypermarket' stores, which later became 'Supercentres'.
The Walmart Years (2000s and 2010s)
In 1999, Walmart bought Asda for £6.7 billion. This was a big move for Walmart to enter the British market.
In 2005, Asda expanded into Northern Ireland by buying 12 former Safeway stores.
In 2009, Walmart sold Asda to one of its own investment companies. This was part of a group change, and Asda remained under Walmart's control.
In 2010, Asda bought the Netto UK supermarket chain for £778 million. Many of these stores were later turned into smaller Asda supermarkets.
In 2012, Asda launched a shopping app for phones, allowing customers to make shopping lists and scan barcodes.
In 2015, Asda started using Walmart's slogan: "Save Money. Live Better."
In 2018, Sainsbury's and Walmart talked about merging Sainsbury's and Asda. This would have created the biggest supermarket chain in the UK. However, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocked the merger in 2019. The CMA said it would increase prices for customers and make competition unfair.
New Ownership and Growth
In February 2021, Mohsin Issa, Zuber Issa, and TDR Capital bought Asda for £6.8 billion. Walmart still has a small part of Asda and a seat on its board.
In May 2023, Asda announced it would buy EG Group's petrol station business. This includes 350 petrol stations and over 1,000 food-to-go places. Asda wants to use these locations for more online order pickups.
Asda Store Types
Asda Supercentres
After Walmart took over, many "Asda Walmart Supercentres" opened. These are some of the largest hypermarkets in the UK. Since 2006, new Supercentres are just called Asda Supercentre.
The largest Asda Supercentre is in Bletchley, Milton Keynes. It opened in 2005 and has a huge sales area. As of 2021, there are 32 Supercentres.
Asda Superstores
Asda superstores are large supermarkets. They sell some non-food items, but less than a Supercentre. Most superstores have a petrol station and places to eat, like cafes. Some even have McDonald's restaurants inside. As of 2021, there are 342 superstores.
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Asda Superstore in West Bridgford, Nottingham. The Asda logo is on the front of the building.
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Asda Superstore in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
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The Asda store on the Isle of Dogs in East London, opened in 1983
Asda Supermarket
In 2010, Asda bought 193 UK stores from the discount retailer Netto. The government made them sell off 47 of these stores. The remaining Netto stores became part of Asda's smaller supermarket format. These stores are usually smaller than 25,000 square feet. As of 2021, there are 207 Asda supermarkets.
Asda Living
In 2003, Asda launched a new type of store called Asda Living. These stores only sell non-food items. This includes clothing, electronics, toys, homewares, and health and beauty products. They often have a coffee shop inside. The first Asda Living store opened in Walsall. As of 2021, there are 33 Asda Living stores.
Asda Petrol
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In 2012, Asda started trying out standalone petrol stations. These are not attached to a main Asda store. They have a small shop and allow customers to pick up online orders. This trial was successful, and Asda has been adding more of these. Asda was the first supermarket in the UK to sell petrol at its store in Halifax in 1967. As of June 2018, Asda runs 319 petrol stations.
Asda on the Move
This is a small convenience store format found at petrol stations. It was launched in 2020. These stores help Asda reach more customers in local areas.
Asda Express
In November 2022, Asda opened its first convenience stores under the Asda Express name. These small stores are located in places like Sutton Coldfield and Tottenham Hale. With the purchase of many EG Group and Co-op petrol stations, the number of Asda Express stores is expected to grow a lot.
Asda Brands and Services
Just Essentials by Asda
Just Essentials by Asda is a brand of lower-priced products. It was launched in 2022 to help customers save money during the cost of living crisis. Before this, it was known as Asda Smartprice.
George clothing
Asda has its own clothing brand called George. It started in 1990 and offers fashionable clothes at good prices. Walmart also sells the George brand in other countries. George is one of the largest clothing retailers in the UK.
Asda Mobile
Asda also has its own mobile phone network called Asda Mobile. It started in 2007 and uses the Vodafone network.
Asda Money
Asda Money offers financial services like car insurance, credit cards, and travel money. These services are provided by other companies, but Asda helps market them.
Medicine
Many larger Asda stores have a pharmacy inside. In 2020, some stores started offering a virtual doctor service where patients can talk to a GP remotely.
Asda Radio
Asda Radio is the music station played inside Asda superstores. It started in 1991 as Asda FM. In 2018, it was relaunched as Asda Radio.
How Asda Delivers Goods
Asda has 25 distribution centres across the UK. These centres help get products to all the stores.
In 2021, Asda announced a trial of self-driving delivery vans in London. This project aims to improve how groceries are delivered to homes.
Working at Asda
Asda has often been listed as one of the "Best companies to work for." They offer staff a 10% discount on most items.
There have been some disagreements between Asda management and the GMB union over the years about pay and working conditions. However, relations have improved.
In 2016, Asda faced a big legal case about equal pay. Many female store workers argued they were paid less than male workers in distribution centres for jobs of similar value. In 2021, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the employees, allowing them to take their case further.
Asda's Advertising
Campaigns
Asda is famous for its "Asda price" campaign, where customers tap their trouser pocket to make a 'chinking' sound. This suggests that Asda's low prices leave more money in their pockets. Many celebrities have appeared in these adverts.
Other slogans Asda has used include "All Together Better" and "One trip and you're laughing."
In 2005, a rival supermarket, Tesco, complained that Asda claimed to be the cheapest supermarket. The Advertising Standards Agency agreed and told Asda to stop using that claim.
In 2008, Asda started a "Why Pay More?" campaign, comparing its prices to rivals.
Energy drinks
In 2018, Asda was one of the first supermarkets to stop selling energy drinks like Red Bull to anyone under 16.
Ethical Trading
Asda is part of the Ethical Trading Initiative, which aims to ensure fair working conditions and pay for workers who make their products. However, some groups have raised concerns that budget retailers might put pressure on suppliers, which can affect workers' wages.
Farmers' unions in the UK have also said that supermarkets like Asda sometimes squeeze suppliers' profits to keep prices low for customers.
Charities
As of 2020, Asda supports several charities through its stores:
- BBC Children in Need
- Breast Cancer Care
- Everyman (men's cancer research)
- Asda Foundation, which helps local causes supported by Asda staff.
Issues and Challenges
Dairy Price Fixing
In 2007, Asda and other retailers admitted to fixing the prices of dairy products between 2002 and 2003. This meant customers paid more than they should have. Asda was fined £18.21 million for its part in this. Asda said they regretted it and wanted to help dairy farmers.
Misleading Advertising
Asda has faced several complaints about its advertising being misleading. For example, in 2010, an advert claimed "Lower prices on everything you buy" and "Lower prices than any other supermarket." The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that these claims were misleading because they didn't explain how the prices were compared or that not all items were included.
The ASA has also ruled against Asda for not clearly stating exclusions in sales or for making claims that couldn't be easily checked by customers.
Awards
- March 2009: Asda was voted Innovative Employer of the Year at the Oracle Retail Week Awards.
See Also
- 2007 UK petrol contamination
- European Marketing Distribution purchasing organization
- List of convenience stores
- List of department stores
- List of hypermarkets
- List of superstores
- List of supermarkets
- Asda Stores Ltd v Brierley
In Spanish: Asda para niños
