Independent symbol group Select & Save looks poised to smash through its store opening target for the year to October.
Andrew King, who joined the business as managing director from One Stop, where he was franchise director, said Select & Save had secured 25 new stores since the beginning of November. Some of these had already opened or were about to open, and there was “a good pipeline still to work through”, he added.
King said the business was on schedule to exceed its net 45 new stores target by the autumn.
The news comes as Select & Save beds in new supply partner Bestway, which King said was going well, albeit “very different” from its previous supply partner, Nisa.
“Change is always difficult and it took a few weeks to bed in, but we continue to make steady progress week on week.”
King said there had been lots of benefits in terms of a little-and-often supply model with two ambient and three chilled deliveries each week.
The cost of goods had reduced “across a basket” with “no surcharges and levies”.
He said about 70% of short shelf-life fresh was single-pick, which meant reduced waste and the opportunity to experiment with new lines.
The brand review and refresh King had hoped to complete by the end of this month was running “a couple of weeks behind plan” and was now scheduled for the middle to the end of February.
King said it was “time to step back and review how we stand out in a busy old market - wholesale and retail”.
Tough Christmas trading reinforced the need to have a competitive, compelling offer to grow footfall especially at peak trading times, he added.
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