Sainsbury to take stock of customer reaction before full roll-out of format change Pause for breath as new Savacentre fanfared Sainsbury is hailing its Savacentre hypermarket in Calcot, Reading, as the best food store in the country following a 20-week revamp costing about £10m. "We are absolutely confident that we have a winning formula here," said chairman Ian Coull. But he said no decision has been made as to when the chain will start overhauling its other 12 stores ­ or which one will be next to get the treatment. "When you make such radical changes there's bound to be little things you get wrong. So we will identify those areas first," he said. Some Savacentre personnel think the chain may wait as long as six months to see how the new ideas bed in. But Coull would only say timing depends on customer feedback. "We have a plan in place to roll out the format to the other Savacentres over the next three years," he added. Shoppers are told Savacentres are "mad for food" which now accounts for 80% of the offer. One of the key innovations is the Food to Go home meal replacement counters which offer TexMex, Italian, Indian and Oriental products. Another unique feature is a standalone bakery complete with brick oven which dominates the fresh food area at the front of the store. Resident chef Kerry Clark helps add theatre to the fresh food area with daily kitchen demonstrations. Savacentre md Jack O'Brien's commented: "It starts from the front door. Customers don't want to be hit with merchandising as they come in ­ they want a welcome zone." From this zone ­ which has a creche off to one side ­ shoppers enter a 102,000 sq ft store offering 30,000 products. In line with the results of the strategic review announced last year, the store's non food range, which used to account for 40% of the sales area, has refocused on four complementary areas: celebrations, cookshop, baby and toddler and indulgence. {{NEWS }}

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