U.K. Convenience War Heats Up

With a new c-store format opened just last week, U.K. supermarket chain Wm Morrison is not alone in the battle for c-store format dominance.

July 11, 2011

ILKLEY, England - Wm Morrison Supermarkets opened its first convenience store last Friday, "hoping a focus on fresh produce will help it stand out as grocers dash to tap the trend for more shopping locally," Reuters reports.

Britain's fourth-largest grocer said that its new 3,000 square food M Local store is selling fresh meat and fish, delivered every day, as well as fresh bread, cakes, pastries, salad, coffee and juices. Pricing on about 75% percent of products, including all fresh produce, would be the same as at its larger stores, which the company says will "set it apart from competitors which tend to charge more at their convenience shops," writes the news source. Morrisons says that 40% of M Local€™s store space is dedicated to fresh foods.

"Convenience is one of the fastest growing sectors of the market and developing our offer in this channel is a key part of our growth strategy," CEO Dalton Philips told Reuters.

Grocery market specialists IGD forecast sales at British convenience stores to grow at an annual rate of 5.5% over the next five years to 42.3 billion pounds ($70 billion), outpacing projected growth of 3.7% for the overall grocery market, notes Reuters.

Morrisons plans to open two more M Local stores this year in Widnes and Wilmslow.

The big four of U.K. supermarket chains plan to open convenience stores; Asda, J Sainsbury, Wm Morrison and Tesco say they will open or expand c-store locations between now and 2014.

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