Tesco has perfected its non-food image and now ranks among the specialists as a formidable player.

At this time of the year our TV screens and newspapers are usually full of adverts for the likes of the Harrods or Next Sale. The Sale stalwarts offer huge discounts and can usually rely on hundreds of shoppers queuing around the block to get their hands on cut-price bargains.

While this year has already been different in that most of the high street has already broken with tradition and staged one-day Sales or gone further and broken into full Sale mode, this year has also been different in that the grocers have gotten in on the act.

At the Tesco Christmas party this week one of the PR people said that they had tried for years to get Tesco’s Sales picked up by the media and this year that has happened. Tesco’s half-price Sale hit the headlines and consequently was understood to have gotten off to a sterling start.

Tesco said that it launched its Sale at that time because it didn’t want shoppers to be anxious about buying presents and then the following week, seeing those same items discounted. But it was also tactical of course. The Sale went head to head with the start of Woolworths’ closing down Sale.

Sales have undoubtedly hit the headlines more than ever this year because of the economic downturn. Yet for Tesco to take its place alongside retailers such as Woolworths, Debenhams and Marks & Spencer also shows thinking has changed about the grocer.

Tesco is no longer just a supermarket, it is a formidable non-food player. At Christmas, it is no longer just the place to go for the turkey and trimmings, it is now somewhere you could, if you chose, get all your Christmas presents.

While Tesco may be suffering slightly this year under the weight of the economic downturn and the rise of the hard discounters Aldi and Lidl, it has carved out its place at the top of the retail tree and is unlikely to be shaken off.

Its non-food offer is expansive and if its toy Sale gets as much press coverage as that of Woolies or Argos, then it is clear it is accepted as a specialist competitor.

Tesco has always been a competitor to most retailers but it is fast gaining ground as a specialist in certain areas. And while some competitors may be smiling wryly at Tesco taking a hit this year, it is by no means beaten.

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