St Neots: Waitrose's mid-size, market town format
Waitrose, the upmarket UK supermarket chain, is launching into the convenience market.
The retailer will open a trial store in Nottingham in December and a further three convenience stores by spring 2009.
The stores will range between 5,000sq ft and 7,000sq ft in size and aim to build on Waitrose’s reputation for quality produce and excellent customer service.
The format will feature specialist service counters for cheese, fresh meat and fish and freshly baked bread.
It will also include a self-service food bar where customers can choose from breakfast foods including smoothies, granola and yogurts in the morning, freshly made baguettes, sandwiches and salads at lunchtime and meals for the evening.
Local produce in Waitrose's small format stores
Mark Price, Waitrose managing director said: "The new format further reinforces the strengths of our brand and the values that run throughout our business. We believe you shouldn’t have to compromise on the standard of your shopping experience just because a store is smaller and designed for convenience.
"We want to revive that old fashioned personalised service in convenience shops, which consumers value, but within a fresh and contemporary setting.
"We have always taken pride in the quality and freshness of our offer and this new format will be no exception. There will be a range of service counters and fresh foods currently unparalleled in the convenience sector."
Local sourcing at Waitrose
Waitrose is also piloting a market town format designed for shops between 10,000sq ft and 15,000sq ft. Three stores opened earlier this year in St Neots, Cambridgeshire; Brackley in Northamptonshire and Buckingham.
Waitrose: trialing smaller stores
Waitrose is still in the process of evaluating their performance, according to a spokesperson.
"However, they will definitely form part of our plan ahead and we are looking for more stores in terms of market town formats," he said.