Happy leap day! It's an unusual day, a rare day... an opportunity for a fun, different post here on The Market Report! We're taking an international tour with a look at five supermarkets outside of the United States, making stops in Mexico, Ireland, Japan, Israel, and Thailand. I hope you enjoy!
Super Chedraui Selecto Supermarket
Boulevard Kukulkan, Cancun, Mexico
Photographed May 7, 2022
Contributor: Alex M.
We begin our international tour with a look at Super Chedraui Selecto, a large upscale supermarket in a resort area of Cancun, Mexico, brought to us by contributor Alex M.!
The store appears to be a multi-story setup, with a footprint of just over 30,000 square feet, meaning if it has two floors it's around 65,000 square feet.
Aged meats take up a large part of this store's deli area. We also see natural foods and fish below...
Because this is in a tourist area, it's possible the store's selections are angled towards what a US customer might be looking for. I'm not familiar enough with Mexico's other grocers to know how this compares, and I've never been to Mexico myself.
Heading downstairs for more to look at...
It looks like the "grand aisle" departments might be on the second floor, with the grocery items on the ground floor. There's also a large selection of nonfood items, including clothing...
A very cool look at what looks like a beautiful store! Thanks, Alex! Now across the Atlantic for another large store...
...a Tesco Superstore in a mall in Ireland!
Tesco Superstore
George's Street Lower, Dun Laoghaire, Ireland
Photographed June 26, 2019
Contributor: Luke P.
This store, which comes to us courtesy of Luke, is located about six miles (ten kilometers!) outside of Dublin. Because it's in a shopping mall (we can see the mall entrance in the first image), I don't have a clear idea of just how large it is, but it looks pretty large.
Okay, full disclosure: Luke, who took these pictures for me, is one of my closest friends and former roommate of three years. He got enough supermarket lectures during those years (and since) to last a lifetime. He got The Market Report before it went on the website.
So it's very nice of him to bring us a very extensive look at this Tesco! It looks large and a bit sterile for my tastes, with a lot of white and neutral colors.
But it looks spacious and well-stocked. The displays are definitely different from what we're used to seeing here in the US...
I don't have a clear handle on the store's layout, either, so we're just going to enjoy looking around with the pictures.
Looks like we may have meat and seafood counters here.
And, of course, we're in Ireland so there are giant sacks of potatoes!
Tesco offers a scan as you shop program, which we can see the handheld devices for here. A few supermarkets in the US have done similar programs, such as Stop & Shop and some ShopRites, but at least in my area, it hasn't really taken off.
Moving into the grocery aisles...
Bakery looking a little cleaned out. Maybe it was the end of the day. I like this signage, though, with the light lettering on the wood paneling.
Exit signage definitely looks a little different here than it does back in the states:
And these multi-tiered freezer cases, which are apparently popular in Europe, have only recently started to come into the US courtesy of LIDL, make up the frozen foods department.
There's also a liquor store...
...a rather extensive one, at that!
And don't forget the clothing department! I guess because it's a Tesco Superstore, it's more of a hypermarket than a straight supermarket.
Now even farther from home...
...we get a look at a Japanese supermarket!
Unknown Supermarket, Japan
Unknown Location, Japan
Photographed June 9, 2023
Contributor: Sylvie H.
Unfortunately, our contributor Sylvie isn't quite sure where she was when she took these pictures, or what the supermarket was. If there are any detectives out there -- or any readers from Japan -- maybe we can figure out where she was!
Daikons! A form of radish.
The store looks very nice and well-stocked.
It also looks like there's a large produce department.
I like the polished concrete floors and the multi-tiered basket carts.
One more stop before we return to the United States...
Super Yuda
Nahalat Binyamin St 39, Tel Aviv, Israel
Photographed January 2, 2023
Contributor: Jacob V.
Welcome to Israel, where our contributor Jacob brings us a look at a Super Yuda grocery store! The store looks small but attractive, and is located in the city of Tel Aviv.
Jacob said he attempted to photograph the outside of another grocery store in Tel Aviv, but the shopkeeper ran outside and told him in no uncertain terms to delete the picture. Luckily, he was still able to bring us this one!
Notice the combination of brands here -- I see Heinz, Skippy, Oat-Ly, and Nutella, plus plenty I'm unfamiliar with. Maybe even some we saw at
Bingo Wholesale!
Lotus's Go Fresh
642 Lat Krabang Rd, Lat Krabang, Bangkok, Thailand
Photographed January 30, 2024
Contributor: Jenna W.
Another store in Asia! This time our contributor Jenna brings us pictures of a Lotus's Go Fresh supermarket. Lotus's is a large chain of grocery stores in Thailand, and it looks like Tesco had an ownership stake in the company until 2021. Some of the stores still have a form of Tesco branding, but the group today owns convenience stores, supermarkets like this one, and much larger hypermarkets.
This store appears to be around 10,000 square feet (around 930 square meters, for our non-American readers) and is located 16 miles or 25 kilometers outside of Bangkok's city center. Lotus's stores seem to be very common in and around Bangkok.
The Lotus group is one of several
supermarket chains in Thailand, and until 2021 was owned in part by Tesco. Prior to that, this store was a Lotus Tesco Express, and the Go Fresh branding appears to be replacing the Tesco branding at the stores little by little.
I'm not sure what the store's layout is, but it looks like a pretty standard grocery store setup. That's likely in part because of the fact that it was designed and built by Tesco.
This store opened under Tesco's ownership between 2012 and 2014 when this building was built. We can tell this store isn't very old.
It's fascinating to see the products on the shelves here, which look a fair amount like American grocery products but of course are different brands and different items. I'm also interested in the fact that it seems pink is a very popular color for grocery packaging here.
And notice the Thai version of Lay's potato chips on the right...
It fascinates me how this idea of a supermarket is pretty universal: very close to this store are traditional Thai outdoor markets with vendors selling meat, produce, fish, and other foods, but we also see a supermarket that doesn't look all that different from what we know here in the US.
I'm not sure how widespread English speaking is in Bangkok, so I'm not sure whether it's standard in Thai stores to use both Thai and English signage, or if that's more the Tesco influence.
I like the look of this store, though! And candy is a mix of familiar and unfamiliar items...
Well, I hope you all enjoyed that, and I wanted to do something really different for leap day because it's an excuse to do something fun. But we've also got a look at a store just outside the Bronx today, which you can see
here!
This store, which comes to us courtesy of Luke, is located about six miles (ten kilometers!) outside of Dublin. Because it's in a shopping mall (we can see the mall entrance in the first image), I don't have a clear idea of just how large it is, but it looks pretty large.
Okay, full disclosure: Luke, who took these pictures for me, is one of my closest friends and former roommate of three years. He got enough supermarket lectures during those years (and since) to last a lifetime. He got The Market Report before it went on the website.
So it's very nice of him to bring us a very extensive look at this Tesco! It looks large and a bit sterile for my tastes, with a lot of white and neutral colors.
But it looks spacious and well-stocked. The displays are definitely different from what we're used to seeing here in the US...
I don't have a clear handle on the store's layout, either, so we're just going to enjoy looking around with the pictures.
Looks like we may have meat and seafood counters here.
And, of course, we're in Ireland so there are giant sacks of potatoes!
Tesco offers a scan as you shop program, which we can see the handheld devices for here. A few supermarkets in the US have done similar programs, such as Stop & Shop and some ShopRites, but at least in my area, it hasn't really taken off.
Moving into the grocery aisles...
Bakery looking a little cleaned out. Maybe it was the end of the day. I like this signage, though, with the light lettering on the wood paneling.
Exit signage definitely looks a little different here than it does back in the states:
And these multi-tiered freezer cases, which are apparently popular in Europe, have only recently started to come into the US courtesy of LIDL, make up the frozen foods department.
There's also a liquor store...
...a rather extensive one, at that!
And don't forget the clothing department! I guess because it's a Tesco Superstore, it's more of a hypermarket than a straight supermarket.
Now even farther from home...
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