Sainsbury's is to change the face of its convenience store business, presenting its Local stores more as neighbourhood grocers than as small supermarkets.
The retailer, which currently owns 330 Sainsbury's Local stores and plans to expand its convenience store estate by 30% in the next three years, has embarked on a dramatic re-merchandising exercise including adopting a new strapline "Sainsbury's Local, Your Local Sainsbury's".
Euan McMurdo, Sainsbury's head of property convenience, told C-Store that stores would now carry this strapline on all internal messaging. "We want local people to think of the stores as their local neighbourhood shop and not like supermarkets, and the strapline helps to achieve this," he said.
Sainsbury's is also making changes to the stores' ranging and merchandising, lowering shelf heights and incorporating a much higher proportion of fresh and chilled foods. It is also working closely with suppliers to shrink the pack sizes of certain products to make them more convenient for shoppers.
McMurdo, who joined Sainsbury's from BP 12 months ago, added that he planned to install a free ATM in every store. He also planned to continue expanding Sainsbury's property convenience team to help it achieve its dramatic growth aspirations.
"We are on track with our expansion plans and are actively looking at sites across the UK where there is a local or transient community," he said.
The retailer, which currently owns 330 Sainsbury's Local stores and plans to expand its convenience store estate by 30% in the next three years, has embarked on a dramatic re-merchandising exercise including adopting a new strapline "Sainsbury's Local, Your Local Sainsbury's".
Euan McMurdo, Sainsbury's head of property convenience, told C-Store that stores would now carry this strapline on all internal messaging. "We want local people to think of the stores as their local neighbourhood shop and not like supermarkets, and the strapline helps to achieve this," he said.
Sainsbury's is also making changes to the stores' ranging and merchandising, lowering shelf heights and incorporating a much higher proportion of fresh and chilled foods. It is also working closely with suppliers to shrink the pack sizes of certain products to make them more convenient for shoppers.
McMurdo, who joined Sainsbury's from BP 12 months ago, added that he planned to install a free ATM in every store. He also planned to continue expanding Sainsbury's property convenience team to help it achieve its dramatic growth aspirations.
"We are on track with our expansion plans and are actively looking at sites across the UK where there is a local or transient community," he said.
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