Tesco to sell its Prague My store

The British supermarket chain Tesco is selling its department store My in the centre of Prague, the Czech News Agency reported this week. According to the consulting company NSG Morison, its value is about 171 million crowns (nearly seven million euros).

My store, photo: CTK

The famous building, known as Máj, was built in the 1970s and used to house one of the few department stores in Czechoslovakia under Communism. It was bought by Tesco in 1996. According to the daily e15, the buyer is a company called Amádeus Real, which bought another Tesco store in the centre of Pilsen last year.

The British supermarket chain has recently been offloading its properties in the Czech Republic. Last year, the company sold its share in Prague’s shopping centre Nový Smíchov to its majority owner, the French firm Kleppiere.

Another shopping centre in Prague’s Letňany was sold to German company CBER Global Investors. Tesco has also sold its stores in Brno and Liberec.

The British chain currently has about 200 stores in the Czech Republic. With over 11,000 employees, it ranks among the country’s biggest employers.

In the financial year 2016/2017, Tesco Czech Republic recorded a financial loss of 1.09 billion crowns.

My, the famous Prague department store on the corner of Národní and Spálená Streets was designed by Martin Rajniš, John Eisler, and also Miroslav Masák from the SIAL studio. The boxy glass and steel building was completed in 1975 and is an important example of the late 20th century architecture style Brutalism. In 2007 it was listed as a national cultural heritage site.