Tesco Launches Antiques Goldshow with Pawnbroker Brand Extension

With every passing day it seems the future envisioned by the 2006 film Idiocracy becomes more possible. In the not-so-distant future of Idiocracy, retail brand Costco has come to service nearly every human need, even law school.

Brit retail giant Tesco, with its plethora of businesses, seems to be vying with Virgin for that one-brand-fits-all title in the UK. With banking, fashion, fuel, filmmaking, insurance, optical, pharmacy, residential communities and a record label under its vast retail umbrella, Tesco's latest move sees it expand into the pawn business.

In partnership with UK pawn brokerage Ramsdens, Tesco will be offering a gold exchange to pay cash for customers' gilded valuables. Could this be a genius brand leveraging move — or a brand embarrassment in the making?Continue reading...