Q 01/05

Tesco's name joins founder Jack Cohen's surname to the initials of T. E. Stockwell, who sold him which product?

A) Tea

B) Soap

C) Sugar

D) Cocoa

Answer · why

A) Tea

Tea was the shipment Jack Cohen bought from Stockwell, and he printed labels joining the supplier's initials to the start of his own surname. The bran...

Q 02/05

Which American retail giant outbid Kingfisher to buy the supermarket chain Asda in 1999, selling control in 2021?

A) Costco

B) Walmart

C) Kroger

D) Albertsons

Answer · why

B) Walmart

Walmart paid £6.7 billion for Asda, its way into the British market. It sold control in 2021 to the Issa brothers and TDR Capital but kept a stake and...

Q 03/05

Which employee-owned business, known for its department stores, has owned the Waitrose supermarket chain since 1937?

A) Selfridges

B) House of Fraser

C) John Lewis

D) Debenhams

Answer · why

C) John Lewis

John Lewis took over Waitrose when the grocer had just ten shops and 160 staff. Its workers are called partners, which is why the supermarkets now tra...

Q 04/05

The discount chains Aldi and Lidl, which both reached Britain in the 1990s, were founded in which country?

A) Austria

B) Sweden

C) Switzerland

D) Germany

Answer · why

D) Germany

Germany is home to both discounters. Aldi grew out of a family shop in Essen, while Lidl took its name from a fruit wholesaler in Heilbronn, and the t...

Q 05/05

Marks & Spencer took Aldi to the High Court in 2021 over Cuthbert, a cake it said copied which chocolate caterpillar?

A) Clyde

B) Colin

C) Wiggles

D) Morris

Answer · why

B) Colin

Colin the Caterpillar has been sold by M&S since 1990, and it accused Aldi's cake of riding on his coat-tails. The two chains settled in 2022 for an u...