One Thing Tesco Shares With Wal-Mart: Critics

On the night of Apr. 21, a quiet shopping district in the British city of Bristol erupted in violence. Protesters set fires and hurled bottles and bricks at riot police, sending eight officers to the hospital. What sparked the blowup? The opening of a Tesco store.

Tesco, Britain's answer to Wal-Mart Stores (WMT), is now the No. 3 retailer worldwide after Wal-Mart and France's Carrefour. In the U.K., where it rings up more than two-thirds of its $92.4 billion annual sales, the discounter has become a lightning rod for protests on issues ranging from workers' rights to dairy prices. Wal-Mart has faced its share of protests, including in Britain, where it owns Asda, the second-largest grocery chain. But animosity toward Tesco runs particularly deep as supermarkets have supplanted local shops to take 90 percent of British food spending. Tescopoly, a nationwide anti-Tesco coalition, includes more than 300 local organizations that campaign against Tesco store openings.