Sainsbury’s has opened a new Local store in Leeds city center, as the UK’s second-largest grocer reveals that its convenience stores have achieved sales of £3 billion for the first time.
The supermarket giant is focusing on expanding its convenience business, which currently comprises over 800 stores across the UK. Sales grew by 10% year-on-year in the financial year to date (6% ahead of the market) and are up 7% on pre-pandemic levels.
The latest store joins five other new convenience stores which the supermarket giant has opened since the start of 2023; in Cambridge, Bramhall, Hanwell, Waterloo and Shepherd’s Bush. Over the past 12 months, Sainsbury’s has opened 12 convenience stores and plans to open over 20 more in the coming year.
This week’s figures also show that over 45 million more customer visits have been made to Sainsbury’s Locals in last year, driven by people returning to the workplace and shopping more flexibly.
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The majority of Sainsbury’s convenience store estate are Locals, with more than 130 specifically catering for busy customers looking for ‘food-on-the-move’ in urban areas.
There are also nine Neighbourhood Hubs, a new format that offers the best “in neighbourhood” one-stop offer, featuring product choice and community at their heart. These Hubs cater to the shift seen throughout the pandemic across customer behaviour towards longer shopping missions.
“We know how much customers value being able to shop when and how they want, particularly in the post-pandemic world,” said Sainsbury’s retail and digital director, Clo Moriarty.
“Convenience is a growing part of our business and seeing our convenience stores reach today’s £3 billion sales milestone is a huge achievement and testament to how we are delivering what customers want. I’d also like to thank our colleagues – they are at the very heart of our business and we couldn’t have achieved today’s milestone without them.”
Local stores allow customers to pick up grocery and household essentials, with a Click & Collect service also available for customers to pick up online orders from brands like Argos, Habitat and Tu Clothing.
Through Sainsbury’s partnership with Neighbourly, the new stores will work with local food donation partners to help ensure that any surplus food from the store will go to those who need it most. The retailer recently hit the milestone of 10 million meals donated in total through the collaboration.
The focus on convenience comes as Sainsbury’s is closing two of its Argos depots over the next three years and integrating its general merchandise logistics network in a move that will affect 1,400 jobs across the business.
