Tesco Store, 1968

Tesco was founded in 1919 by Jack Cohen who combined the first two letters of his surname with those of a tea supplier, T E Stockwell. He began with a market stall in Hackney, the first store opened in Burnt Oak in 1929. The chain expanded dramatically during the 1950s and 60s and there were soon over 350 stores across the country. The idea of self service supermarkets was introduced in 1958 in Malden where for the first time customers could browse shelves and select goods themselves before taking them to a till instead of relying on assistants who fetched products from behind a counter. Products such as Typhoo tea and produce made by Birds Eye can be seen on the shelves of this store.