To suggest it’s a uniquely British thing to pluralise company names?

[ApertureGLaDOS]

I actually may be unreasonable as I have no idea about what the rest of the world do, BUT…

… I was watching an episode of Food Theory on YouTube and he mentioned repeatedly, ‘Cadbury’. I found it so weird and jarring because it is known as ‘Cadbury’s’ to me. I suppose on reflection it makes sense because I think we are sold ‘Cadbury’s chocolate’ rather than just a product from Cadbury, but it sticks and I refer to it in that sense all the time (I don’t say Nestle’s or Mars’ for example).

And it’s not just that - I go to Tesco’s, not Tesco. And whilst I don’t say it myself I’ve heard friends shopping at ‘Lidl’s’ and even Asda’s.

So is it a British thing or is pluralising companies in common usage a thing done world over?

@ApertureGLaDOS
I don't think the French do it - think

Carrefour
Casino
Monoprix

But equally French often doesn't pronounce the s even when there is one so it may not arise

And use
Chez Thierry
For "at Thierry's house"

@ApertureGLaDOS

Maybe because it has mama in the word so we subconsciously (even if erroneously) think it's named after an actual person -
Mama's Noodles

I work in a role that discusses supermarkets all across Europe daily, in multinational and local teams, primarily in English with a majority of very good but non native speakers.

They never add a possessive form.
Biedronka in Poland is just Biedronka.
X5 in Russia is just X5.

The U.K. team when talking about their customers also use just the noun.
”We have a meeting with Tesco next week.”

The exception is Sainsbury’s, but as explained upthread that’s in the actual name.

However, I’ve heard the same people come off a call about Tesco, saying Tesco, and then nip to Tesco’s for their lunch. So perhaps my Polish colleagues then go to Biedronka’s? 🤣

I take far more issue with my daughter who has followed a regional inclination to “go Tesco” or “go Tesco’s”. I don’t care whether she chooses a possessive, but the lack of preposition irritates me intensely!

I think some of it may have to do with how possessives are usually created in English (with an apostrophe), as opposed to many other languages.

But those are companies that are actually called that! That's not what this post is about.

OP, I've never thought about it before, but I don't think we do do this in the US. For example I go to:

Walmart
Target
Home Depot
Barnes and Noble
Williams Sonoma
Winn Dixie
Lord & Taylor

Nobody ever adds an S to the end.

The Lego thing is interesting. (I'm in the US.) I think we all know the name of the brand/product is Lego. There's a Lego store, for example, and I think of the concept as Lego, not Legos.

However, when we're talking about individual bricks, one is a Lego, two or three are Legos.

I don’t know if I am imagining this but I have a vague memory from my long-ago days as an au pair that the French do use “chez” in relation to shops, eg “j’ai acheté des oeufs chez Carrefour”. Not the same as a possessive but still probably a colloquialism related to shops. Any French people around on here?

However, when we're talking about individual bricks, one is a Lego, two or three are Legos.

They are according to most Americans, but the company still says the pieces are called 'Lego'. They refer to them individually as Lego bricks, pieces of Lego, Lego minifigures etc.

Tesco and Waitrose are both based on names though- Tesco was a partnership of TE Stockwell and Jack COhen. (I imagine a lot of people wrongly assume the “co” is for “Company” not “Cohen”).

Waitrose was a partnership between Mr Waite and Mr Rose. Though I appreciate that neither is a complete name and so not obviously a person, unlike Clark or Morrison.

Leg Godt, which is where the name comes from, is Danish for “play well”. It’s kind of a tag line. I think that they are probably singular because the company intended “LEGO” to be an adjective, not a noun.

I used to work with someone who'd announce that she was off to 'Boots's' at lunchtime.

It's not Tesco's or Asda's though. Once that are plurals I'll use, others I won't as it sounds silly.

None of them are plurals though?

It's a colloquialism, eg Mark's for m &s. We only tend to do it supermarkets and long standing shops, still miss Woolies!

Oh, I know. I was stating what I (and everyone I know) refer to them as. I'm not saying it's correct. It's not something I've ever thought about before, but I think it's interesting that I (and I guess most Americans) know that the concept and the brand is called Lego but would refer to a few bricks as Legos.

Come to think more about it, I think I feel like if I say Legos it's short for Lego bricks. It's the bricks that are being pluralized, not Lego itself!

Pedant here. Got to post number 55 and nobody had mentioned the possessive S so I will mention it now. Sorry if posters between 55 and 166 have mentioned it but I got bored of scrolling.

Literally, Tesco's is the shop of Tesco. W H Smith's is the shop of Mr W H Smith. It is not a plural. Historically, people on the British Isles use this possessive form to talk about shops. I think the Americans thought it was all a bit silly so they just talk about Walmart.

You’re not “pluralising” you are adding possession. Honestly I’ve never done this but then again I’m a stickler for grammar

I would say it is usually for actual physical business that you would go to as a place which is why Cadbury’s actually fits because you can visit it (Cadbury World) whereas you wouldn’t visit Nestle or Mars.

It's not uniquely British as we do it in Ireland too

From post number 12:

A lot of them imply ownership

How I miss Jeremy Kyle and the people who had saved their textses or brought their textses to show to the host. Guaranteed to make me shudder.

I inwardly cringe whenever I hear my MIL talking about Markses or John Lewises. She doesn’t say Waitroses though… huh.

It's not a British thing, it's incorrect!!!

No not a British thing at all. I say Tesco, Sainsbury Asda, without the need to add s at the end

No not a British thing at all. I say Tesco, Sainsbury Asda, without the need to add s at the end

The OP asked if it was a uniquely British thing. That doesn't mean 'Do all British people do it?', it means 'Does anyone other than Brits do it?'