UK retailer Sainsbury’s is rapidly expanding its convenience business with plans to open 50 Sainsbury's Local stores London and the south-east of England by early 2014.
The retailer has been pro-active in its convenience roll-out, saying last year it had plans to open 1-2 convenience stores a week during 2013. It reported like-for-like growth of 18 per cent in the division, with some five million Sainsbury’s Local customers each week.
Sainsbury’s currently operates 523 convenience stores nationwide, including 150 branches in London and the south-east.The new raft of convenience stores will be supported by a purpose-built state of the art distribution centre at Thameside.
Simon Twigger, Sainsbury’s convenience director, said, “Our convenience business is going from strength to strength as customers continue to enjoy the benefits of regular top up shopping and the ability to walk to a local store. The new ‘Locals’ will be located on high streets and in the heart of communities, providing access to healthy, quality food at fair prices.”
The UK convenience retail sector is currently worth £34 billion and is set to increase to £44 billion by 2017, according to IGD. (26 March)
© 2013 - ESM: European Supermarket Magazine by Sadhbh Connor
