Initially founded in 1868, Low's had branches throughout Scotland, North East England, Cumbria and Yorkshire.

The purchase of Wm Low by Tesco moved them to the largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom, beating Sainsbury's for the first time.

The company continued to expand, and by the turn of the century, the business had 64 stores spread between Hawick in the south to Dingwall in the Highlands.

[16] In the same year, Archibald died and would be replaced by his nephew Philip Rettie, joined by William Low's grandson Ian Stewart, as joint managing directors in 1953.

[19] The company, however, did not follow other multiples, keeping a similar line as Sainsbury's by not adopting the issuing of trading stamps.

[21] Sandy Leslie, who became the company's retail director, stated that it was square-footage of stores, not the number of branches, by which the new criteria was measured;[21] however, as the boss of fellow grocery chain Moores Stores also stated, the cost of developing supermarkets was expensive; there were too many supermarkets to be successful.

[24] The company continued to grow its supermarket portfolio, and by 1972 it had grown to 31, with ten self-service stores, an increase of floorspace of 25%.

[25] This was further accentuated with the opening of a new head office and distribution centre, at Dryburgh Industrial Estate in Dundee in October 1972, which incorporated modern data processing and warehousing methods.

[25] The company moved into the low end of the market in 1976, when they launched their Discount Price Policy, which was a year earlier than Tesco's own Operation Checkout.

[37][38] During 1982, it was reported that Hintons, another supermarket chain, were planning a takeover of Low's, and the current market valuation was £12 million.

[43][40] Laws had a group predominantly based in the north-east of England with a portfolio of smaller stores than Wm Low.

James Millar said of the deal: We are no longer confined to Scotland's 5 million population as our market - we have broken out of that restriction to an almost limitless growth potential for the future.

[45] In April 1989, Wm Low attempted a friendly take over of Budgens, a small supermarket chain based mainly in the South East of England.

[46][47][37] The pulling out of the takeover had cost Low's £2.5 million as a result of fees and having to pay for underwriting commitments which were no longer required.

[28] In the 1988–89 trading year, Low's turnover exceeded £300 million for the first time, and the company's profit margin had increased to 5.8%.

[51]Expansion into the north and midlands of England was a priority, with the £12 million, 30,000 sq ft (2,800 m2) Loughborough store opening in 1993.

[2] The takeover battle for William Low started on 14 July 1994, when Tesco announced its formal bid of £154 million for the company to dramatically improve its Scottish portfolio and an assurance it would not cherry pick the best stores.

[61] The Argyll Group, owners of Safeway and Scotland's biggest grocery retailer, announced in July 1994 that it would not be making a bid for Wm Low.

[65] Tesco formally took over Wm Low on 2 September 1994 for a total sum of £257 million, ending 126 years of business.

[69] A re-fit programme followed, and Tesco scanning tills were installed at every store by August 1995, with the refit being completed by the end of 1996 at a cost of £35 million.

[73] Prior to the takeover, sales had been falling at a rate of 6%, a figure that Tesco reversed to a growth of 25% at the end of 1994–95 in the former Low's stores.

[6] On 6 and 7 May 1964, the Aberdeen branch delicatessen used a tin of Argentinian corned beef that had not been processed properly (and was infected with typhoid).