Tesco is preparing to open the first of its "artisan" Harris + Hoole coffee shops inside one of its flagship stores.
The supermarket giant has secured planning permission to install a branch of the independent-feeling coffee shop chain inside its "concept store" near London Bridge station.
Harris + Hoole, which promotes itself as a "family affair", has become a talking point since it was revealed it is 49% controlled by Tesco – although the rest of the company is owned by Australian siblings Nick, Andrew and Laura Tolley.
David Gray, an analyst at Planet Retail, said it was "very significant" that Tesco had chosen to bring H+H to Tooley Street. "It is the store they use to trial all the new things," he said.
Gray said other initiatives trialled at Tooley Street in 2011 have already been rolled out to more than 200 stores.
Steve Dresser, chief executive of Grocery Insight, said he thought Tesco picked Tooley Street as the first location for an in-store H+H because "there's a lot of focus on that store". "Because of its location, City analysts and investors are going to visit that store," he said. "That will be the first one they'll do. It makes perfect sense to bring H+H into stores."
Tesco declined to comment on how many H+H's it hopes to open inside its supermarkets. However, H+H is also preparing to open another of its coffee shops next door to Tesco Metro in Imperial Wharf, west London, in a property owned by Tesco.
"As we're refreshing the look and feel of our Tooley Street store, we think it's a good opportunity to team up with Harris + Hoole and open a small coffee shop above the store," a Tesco spokesman said. "We think our customers will love Harris + Hoole's freshly roasted coffee and great quality cakes and pastries and look forward to them opening later this year."
The manager of Tesco Tooley Street tweeted that it was "exciting" that the coffee shop chain would be opening in his store.
H+H, named after coffee-loving characters in the Diary of Samuel Pepys, does not mention Tesco's ownership stake in stores or on its menus. It declined to comment on whether it plans to open outlets in other Tesco supermarkets.
The Tolley siblings, who are represented by multinational PR firm Bell Pottinger, declined to comment.
