Sainsbury’s has launched the first of 14 retail sites that it recently acquired for conversion into supermarkets, kick-starting its biggest store opening programme in over a decade.
The new supermarket opened in Felixstowe yesterday and is part of Sainsbury’s ‘Next Level’ strategy to offer “more food choice to more customers in more locations” across England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
Last autumn, the company snapped up 14 sites, which were predominantly former Homebase stores, and two outlets from East of England Co-op. Since then, Sainsbury’s has been working to convert them into new supermarkets, with the first in Felixstowe to be followed by a second in Brightlingsea later this year.
Combined with its organic store opening programme, the group expects to open 15 supermarkets during its 2025/26 financial period, and over the next two years, new openings will add over 400,000 sq. ft. of new space to its estate. It also plans to add another 25 new convenience stores in each of the next two years.
The new 19,000 sq. ft. supermarket in Felixstowe is Sainsbury’s first in the East Suffolk town and represents a multimillion-pound investment by the retailer. Its arrival means almost 23,000 more people in the area now live within a 10-minute drive of a Sainsbury’s supermarket.
“We were delighted to open our fantastic supermarket in Felixstowe today, putting Sainsbury’s on the doorstep of customers in the town for the first time,” said Patrick Dunne, Sainsbury’s Chief Property and Procurement Officer.
“It was also an exciting moment for our business as today’s launch marks the first of many brilliant new supermarkets we plan to open over the next two years, following our strategic decision to acquire 14 new sites for conversion into Sainsbury’s last year. Our bold plan is driven by our belief in the strength of Sainsbury’s offer and our commitment to bringing more of our delicious, high-quality and great value food within easy reach of more customers.
“We’ve worked diligently to transform the Felixstowe site into a new Sainsbury’s store in just a few months, and we will continue to convert many more of the sites we’ve acquired for launch over the next two years, as well as opening more new stores from our existing pipeline of purpose-built supermarkets.”
NamNews Implications:
- And being retail, initial results will have begun to flow.
- Pointing to a direction forward.
- Retail rivals now need to factor in 14 new compete-points with Sainsbury’s…
- …and appropriate action required from suppliers.
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