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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Freddie Bennett

People are only just realising what Tesco stands for – and it all started with tea

Tesco is the largest retailer in Britain, as millions of customers flock to their stores each year to get their weekly food shops done and dusted.

We're all so used to seeing the household logo with those big red letters that few of us have considered where the title actually came from.

Much like other stalwarts on the British high street, brand names become so etched into our minds that we don't spare them another thought. Now, people are baffled upon learning where Tesco's name derives from.

It turns out the origin of the supermarket's title goes back many years to the man who first set the store up.

The store was founded in 1919 (stock photo) (Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The store was founded in 1919 by a man called Jack Cohen who was the son of Jewish migrants from Poland.

Cohen first started his business by selling odd items from a stall in Hackney, London.

To get his first day's stock for the stall, he used demobilisation money from the Royal Flying Corp, which he was a part of during The Great War.

The name Tesco first came to be as a result of Cohen buying a shipment of tea in 1923 from a man called Thomas Edward Stockwell.

Using the suppliers' initials, the entrepreneur made a label with 'TES' written on it and added the first two letters of his surname, to get Tesco.

Cohen managed to open his first store in 1929 in Edgware, North London.

From there, the brand blossomed and by 1939, he owned 100 stores.

The first Tesco supermarket did not take long to appear as in 1958, Cohen owned one in Essex.

Explaining the evolution of the Tesco brand, from smaller shops to supermarkets, Tesco's website states: "The new format store included a counter service selling cheese, butter and meats weighed by sales assistants."

The brand's founder passed away in 1979 but his legacy certainly lives on as Tesco stores are found across most towns in the UK, with over 4,000 branches.

Do you have a story to share? We want to hear all about it. Email yourmirror@mirror.co.uk.

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