Tesco reaches into Outer Hebrides

Stornoway, Scotland -- Tesco, the British supermarket giant, has breached the last region in Scotland where its stores were unknown, the Outer Hebrides.

On Tuesday, a Tesco opened in Stornoway on the island of Lewis, The Scotsman reported. The town is the major population center in the Outer Hebrides.

The 50 people who lined up waiting for the doors to open at 8 a.m. were greeted by a sign in Gaelic, "Failte gu Tesco Steornabhagh" or "Welcome to Tesco Stornoway." The store had bilingual signs inside, as well.

Most shoppers appeared to be concerned with quality and price, not with fear that Tesco would disturb the island way of life.

"It's been a long time coming," said Moira Baker of Great Bernara. "We always shop in Tesco on the mainland."

In recent weeks, Tesco has also opened stores in Kirkwall in the Orkneys and Lerwick in the Shetlands, its most northerly store in Britain. The chain has 2,200 stores in Britain and about 1,600 overseas, most in Europe and Asia.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.