Tesco's Still California Dreamin'

After conquering the U.K. grocery market, Britain's Tesco in 2007 set its sights on the U.S., opening a smattering of small outlets called Fresh & Easy on the West Coast. One recession and about £555 million ($894.9 million) in losses later, Tesco is modifying a strategy that confused shoppers and drew criticism from investor Warren Buffett, whose conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway owns about 3 percent of Tesco.

"They've had a real problem in California," Buffett said during Berkshire's annual investor weekend in early May. Berkshire Vice-Chairman Charlie Munger went even further: "Tesco is God Almighty in England," he told London's recently. "But you come into Southern California, and you have Trader Joe's and Costco. That's tough competition. It's a different world."