WorldWide Retail Exchange

Tesco PLC
18 April 2000


Delhaize and J.C. Penney join WorldWide Retail Exchange

London, Tuesday 18 April 2000 - Two major retailers today announced they have
joined the WorldWide Retail Exchange, the web-based, business-to-business
marketplace founded last month by 12 international retailers, including UK
retailers Marks and Spencer, Kingfisher and Tesco.

The new participants are the Delhaize Group, the Belgian food retailer with
interests in the United States and 10 other countries, over 2,000 stores and
1999 sales of Euro 14.3 billion; and J.C. Penney Company, Inc., with 1999
sales of USD 32.5 billion the largest mail order catalogue operation in the US
and more than 4,000 department stores and Eckerd drugstores. The two retailers
will become founding members as well, participating in the initial 60% of the
founding capital of the Exchange.

Their participation brings the number of founding members of the WorldWide
Retail Exchange to 14. In alphabetical order: Albertson's (USA), Auchan
(France), Casino (France), CVS (USA), Delhaize (Belgium), J.C. Penney (USA),
Kingfisher (UK), K-Mart (USA), Marks & Spencer (UK), Royal Ahold (The
Netherlands), Safeway, Inc. (USA), Target (USA), Tesco (UK) and Walgreens
(USA). Jointly, the Exchange operates around 40,000 stores with 1999 combined
sales approaching Euro 370 billion.

'We are delighted to welcome two retailers of the calibre of Delhaize and J.C.
Penney to the WorldWide Retail Exchange,' said a spokesman for the Exchange.
'A strong Exchange is in the interests of all members. We believe it will soon
become the standard for e-commerce transactions with costs for all parties,
including suppliers, decreasing dramatically.'

The 14 member companies will be able to conduct a full range of food, non-
food, textile and drugstore e-commerce transactions with individual vendors,
independent of one another. It is anticipated that other retailers will join
the Exchange in the near future. Each retailer will use the Exchange to build
infrastructure and procure merchandise, supplies, equipment and other
business-
related goods and services from participating suppliers.

Contact:
Tristia Clarke      Kingfisher               Tel:    [phone]
Louis Hill               Marks and Spencer   Tel:    [phone]
Nicole Lander       Tesco Store Ltd          Mobile: [phone]