Waitrose has added to its convenience store portfolio with the opening of a new store in Kensington, West London, dubbed Little Waitrose .
The upmarket grocery chain is using the new 3,000 square foot store on Old Brompton Road to gauge consumer reaction towards this potential new sub-brand.
The outlet is the first to feature the Little Waitrose fascia, which is being tested to help shoppers differentiate its convenience format from the rest of its store estate.
If the trial is successful, Waitrose plans to re-brand its convenience shops in Cambridge and Manchester and include the name on all future smaller convenience stores .
Waitrose’s director of store development Diana Hunter said: “We are really excited by the reaction we have already had to our ‘Little Waitrose’ shop and if our customers continue to respond as they have done in the last 24 hours, we will certainly be introducing the brand to more of our smaller convenience shops.”
Waitrose previously announced that it plans to open 28 convenience stores by the end of the year, which would take its smaller store estate to 41.
