Waitrose is ramping up investment in its store portfolio with plans to open up to 100 convenience shops across the UK over the next five years.
The first new Waitrose store in six years will open in Hampton Hill later this year, subject to planning approval, with a second following in Greater London which will open early in the new year. The convenience stores will trigger one of the retailer’s biggest periods of expansion.
The announcement comes as Waitrose unveils its latest vision for what its shops could look like for customers in the future with the transformation of its Finchley Road, North London store. The store will be used to trial new services, product offerings and concept upgrades over the next 12 months before a new blueprint for Waitrose shops is revealed in 2025.
“The transformation of our Finchley Road store marks the next evolution of our journey to create a great shopping experience for our customers, underpinned by a high-quality product offering tailored to the local area, and the quality service we are synonymous with,” said James Bailey, Executive Director for Waitrose.
“In designing the store, we have taken time to understand how our customers like to shop, and used this knowledge to introduce new concepts that will be tested and rolled out nationally as we continue to work towards the Waitrose of the future.”
Waitrose’s store investment program will see the retailer inject a record £1bn over the next three years into new stores and improvements to 150 existing shops, almost half of its estate.
The investment in Waitrose’s store portfolio will focus on the areas that differentiate the retailer, including:
- Upgrading service counters: meat and fish counters have been given a new look and upgraded.
- Award-winning wine selection given greater prominence: Finchley Road features an entirely chilled department for white wine, champagne, rose and beer.
- Greater flexibility to respond to local demand: Finchley Road has given more space to top sellers including adding a second dry aged beef cabinet and dedicated parmesan section – 12% of Waitrose parmigiano counter sales come from the one store.
- More third-party collaboration: including an exclusive partnership with Crosstown doughnuts and expanded concession with Sushi Daily to include a Hot Wok offer of ready-to-eat dishes.
- More dedicated space for on demand grocery orders: The store features a hatch to allow riders to make collections outside of the store’s opening hours. It is also the first UK supermarket to have a dedicated internal space for on-demand grocery collections due to the increased popularity of orders through Deliveroo and Uber Eats.
“Waitrose will always offer fantastic food, but the groundwork we have undertaken behind the scenes in recent years means we can now focus on growth through new shops and ensuring our existing ones are providing great shopping experiences that match the quality of our products,” said Mr Bailey.