An organic supermarket chain is set to open a branch in a £140 million development in London this autumn.
Planet Organic, which made a £2.5 million loss last year, has taken a 15-year lease on the ground floor at Newham’s Yard, Southwark.
The retailer already has 11 shops across the capital, and plans to open three more in 2021.
“Newham’s Yard is in a great location […] with its busy mixture of community, commuter and tourist shoppers,” Planet Organic chair Ben Thompson said.
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“The area has a well-deserved reputation for excellent food and Planet Organic’s healthy and nutritious offering will add to that.”
The space was bought from the Acorn Property Group, whose commercial property head Dane Cummings said Planet Organic would be “a huge asset for the local area”.
It comes after the retailer announced Holland & Barrett’s George Dymond as its new chief executive earlier this month.
He will replace current boss Peter Marsh by the end of the year.
Dymond said he looked forward to increasing the chain’s “reach and influence, and to serving its existing communities and indeed new ones as it expands into new stores”.
Thomson added that the company was emerging from Covid-19 “in a position of strength” with a “clear ambition to open more stores”.
Planet Organic was hit hard by lockdown, which was partly responsible for losses quadrupling in the 12 months to August 2020.
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