Waitrose to open 100 convenience stores over five years

Supermarket Waitrose is planning to open 100 convenience stores over the next five years as part of a £1 billion-plus investment in new outlets and shop refurbishments.

British upmarket supermarket group today (21)announced its plans to invest £1bn in new and existing shops over the next three years. The chain, part of the employee-owned John Lewis Partnership, said it would open up to 100 convenience shops across the UK over the next five years. It currently trades from 329 stores and also trades online.

Waitrose lost some market share through the cost-of-living crisis, but industry data published in July showed it edged higher for the first time since January 2022. It had a share of 4.5 per cent according to the latest data from market researcher Kantar that was published last week.

The supermarket group said its investment would also focus on areas that differentiate it from competitors. The first new Waitrose store in six years will open in Hampton Hill, south west London, later this year, subject to planning approval, with a second following in Greater London early in the new year.

James Bailey, executive director of Waitrose, said the group planned over five years to open up to four large supermarkets as well as the Little Waitrose shops, some of which may include relocations from existing sites.

He said older stores were also being refurbished to feature “more of what people expect from us and love such as counters, unequalled service and a lot more fresh food”. Bailey said Waitrose was continuing to invest in technology to ensure there were no longer gaps on shelves after IT problems and a warehouse fire which led to stocking issues in 2022 and last year.

Waitrose is also planning to unveil a revamped outlet in Finchley Road, north London, today (21). Speaking ahead of the reopening of the Finchley Road store, which will have larger fresh meat and fish counters and a new out-of-hours pickup point for online shoppers, Bailey said: “At the moment we are on a real positive upward trajectory.

“The transformation of our Finchley Road store marks the next evolution of our journey to create a great shopping experience for our customers, underpinned by a high-quality product offering tailored to the local area, and the quality service we are synonymous with.

“In designing the store, we have taken time to understand how our customers like to shop, and used this knowledge to introduce new concepts that will be tested and rolled out nationally as we continue to work towards the Waitrose of the future.”