Tesco 'seeks non-food expansion'

Tesco sells a wide range of homeware and electrical goods

Tesco is looking at fresh ways to expand its retail empire by increasing sales of non-food items, reports say.

Steps include a move to launch a homeware catalogue in September, according to the Daily Mail newspaper.

Tesco declined to comment, but said it was "looking at a number of ways to get non-food to more customers".

The news comes after Verdict Research predicted Tesco would be the UK's largest non-food retailer by the end of 2006, with sales hitting over £6bn.

Growth sector

Verdict Research forecast that the increase would place Tesco above ARG, which owns Argos and Homebase, in terms of non-food sales.

Non-food items - which range from TVs to jeans for £3 a pair - represent less than 10% of Tesco's online sales, said a spokesperson.

Tesco recently said it aimed to be "as strong in non-food as in food".

Sales of non-food goods are increasing at twice the rate of food, with supermarkets Asda and Sainsbury's rivalling Tesco for a share in the market.

At the end of April, Tesco reported an underlying annual profit of £2.25bn, a 17% increase on the year before.