The number of Sainsburys Local stores will soon overtake its normal supermarkets.
Sainsbury’s will open its 594th Local store on January 16th in Balsall Common, Coventry, meaning there will be more convenience stores than regular, larger ones.
Mike Coupe, Sainsbury’s Group commercial director, said its Local stores, with their “convenient locations and emphasis on fresh food”, were able to help customers to shop little and often.
“With only six per cent of the population living within a 15-minute walk of a Sainsbury’s Local, there’s plenty of opportunity for us to grow,” he added.
The supermarket giant has promised to open two new convenience stores a week throughout 2013/14. So far, it has opened 73 and the stores employ 14,000 workers. It opened its first Local store in 1998 in Hammersmith.
Sainsbury’s recent trading figures showed that, while sales growth slowed to 0.2 per cent, its slowest pace in nine years, convenience store sales surged by 18 per cent.
According to the Institute of Grocery Distribution, the value of the convenience sector is £35.6 billion and is expected to rise to £46.2 billion by 2018.
