Waitrose opening 100 new convenience stores in £1bn revamp

Waitrose plans to open 100 new convenience stores within the next five years, the John Lewis Partnership announced on Wednesday. 

The 100 new smaller convenience-style stores form part of the group’s £1billion in new stores and refurbishments.  

The group said the first new Waitrose store in six years will open in Hampton Hill in south west London later this year, with a second following at an unnamed London location early next year. 

The group will also refurbish 150 existing stores, almost half of its estate, over the next three years.

The group’s John Barnes shop in Finchley Road, London, is being used to test new store concepts. The Finchley Road store will have larger fresh meat and fish counters and a new out-of-hours pickup point for online shoppers. 

James Bailey, executive director for Waitrose, said: ‘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.

‘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. 

‘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 and John Lewis have endured a torrid few years, but are intent on luring shoppers back and boosting their market share. The group returned to profit in the spring. 

In a statement on Wednesday, the group said: ‘The latest Kantar figures reported last week show customers are responding to the investment in our offering, Waitrose recorded our strongest growth since November 2023 and is continuing to gain market share after July’s figures showed an increase for the first time since January 2022.’

It’s not only food lovers the group wants to woo. 

John Lewis is on a mission to ramp up sales of its clothing lines and hired former Asos executive Rachel Morgans as its new director of fashion in June. 

DIY INVESTING PLATFORMS

AJ Bell

AJ Bell

Easy investing and ready-made portfolios

Hargreaves Lansdown

Hargreaves Lansdown

Free fund dealing and investment ideas

interactive investor

interactive investor

Flat-fee investing from £4.99 per month

Saxo

Saxo

Get £200 back in trading fees

Trading 212

Trading 212

Free dealing and no account fee

Affiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence.

Compare the best investing account for you