Waitrose readies convenience-store debut

by Richard Abbott, Marketing 25-Sep-08, 14:23

LONDON - Waitrose has signed a deal to open its first convenience store, as managing director Mark Price reveales that the supermarket could roll out up to 400 of the stores.

Speaking at The Marketing Forum aboard the Aurora cruise ship, Price declined to reveal where the first store would be, but predicted a bright future for the convenience format.

The launch, which Waitrose first mooted in the summer, follows the success of smaller store concepts such as Sainsbury's Local and Tesco Metro, which have proved popular on high streets and in commuter areas.

Price also revealed that he was looking at international expansion of the Waitrose brand. At present, it has only a tie-up with Dubai-based retailer Spinneys.

During his address, the self-styled 'Chubby Grocer' also revealed that he will stop writing his 'Not so chubby' blog, which appears on the retailer's website, at Christmas. Instead, he suggested that it may evolve into a customer-feedback tool.

Price told the Forum that pricing will form a major part of Waitrose's marketing over the coming months.

'The first challenge is price perception,' he said. 'We aim to be competitive against the other supermarkets, but customers don't believe that. They think we are more expensive.'

Comments

CF - 26/09/2008

Is this linked to Waitrose's purchase of a handful of old Woolworths stores? There's on in Chiswick due to open December 4th and there are a few others around London as well...