Waitrose has today opened its first store in six years as part of a £1bn investment programme for new sites and refurbishments that was announced earlier this year. It also revealed that it is planning a further push into the convenience market by building on its partnerships with Welcome Break and Shell.
The new shop in Hampton Hill in south west London is the group’s 47th company-operated convenience outlet. In August, Waitrose revealed that it was planning to open 100 more convenience stores over the next five years, as well as four large supermarkets. Meanwhile, the investment programme will see around 150 older stores, almost half of its current estate, refurbished.
Waitrose said today that whilst its focus will initially be on opening smaller, more typical convenience stores of 3,000 sq. ft., like Hampton Hill, it is also looking at opportunities for larger convenience stores around double that size.
The group noted that the Hampton Hill store builds on its partnerships with on-demand delivery platforms Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat, with it being the first Waitrose convenience outlet to feature a hatch to allow delivery riders to make collections more easily. The hatches are being trialled with a view to them becoming a feature of Waitrose sites, with average weekly on-demand grocery sales currently up by 115% year-on-year.
Meanwhile, Waitrose is targeting more new locations with its franchise partner Welcome Break. The motorway services operator will be opening stores on the A14 in Spaldwick, Cambridgeshire, this month and on the M1 in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, as part of a new site in January. A third location will open in 2025, with more planned.
Having begun their partnership in 2009, there are now 27 Little Waitrose outlets operating in Welcome Break motorway service areas. The new stores will be the first the grocery retailer has opened with the company in eleven years.
Waitrose also confirmed today that it now supplies over 100 Shell forecourt shops, with plans to add further new locations in 2025.
“The long associated stereotypes of food at forecourts and service stations are becoming a thing of the past – expectation has moved on, and customers are rightfully demanding more,” said James Bailey, Executive Director for Waitrose.
“They want great tasting, quality food no matter where they are. Through new store openings and strategic partnerships we will continue to evolve our shops to get better and better, whilst reaching new locations that help bring Waitrose great quality, service and value closer to more customers.”
NAM Implications:
- Waitrose are now making slow but careful recovery progress…
- …and have a record of sticking to ther expansion plans.
- Time for convenience suppliers to reassess their Waitrose strategies…
- …to optimise the emerging opportunities.
