At the opening of 99p Stores' 99th store, Beth Phillips talks to commercial director Hussein Lalani about the retailer's rapid growth in popularity and its plans for the future


It's 8.30am on Ashford High Street. The surrounding shops have yet to open, but there's already a queue of people snaking down the road to the former Woolworths, shortly to reopen as 99p Stores' 99th store. When the ribbon is cut at 99 seconds past 9am, the shoppers, some of whom have been waiting since midnight, race to fill their baskets with everything from light bulbs to olives. Commercial director Hussein Lalani steps back and smiles. "In about an hour, you won't be able to move in here," he laughs.

Lalani loves store openings and makes sure that either he, his brother, buying director Faisal, or his father, founder Nadir, is at each one. There's been plenty to keep them busy this year. In January, the retailer had 64 stores. It now has more than 100, with a further 99 planned by the end of 2010.

Woolworths' demise has made this "easily achievable", Lalani says. The collapse of the retail giant in January after, ironically, 99 years on UK high streets gave 99p Stores the opportunity it was looking for to expand.

"We're specifically targeting vacant Woolworths branches," says 99p Stores promoter Graham Barnes. "A total of 30 Woolworths stores have been converted to 99p Stores so far and we want to move into a further 30 by the end of the year."

When Woolworths fell into administration, Lalani was in talks with turnaround specialist Hilco, which was rumoured to be interested in buying the chain, over acquiring as many as 60 stores. And as soon as Woolworths went under, he immediately registered his interest with the administrators. However, the company has negotiated most of the store purchases directly with landlords, from whom Lalani has secured six months' free rent plus a month to fit out the store.

Not that 99p Stores needs the extra month. The Woolworths stores are generally in good condition, with flooring, lighting and sometimes shelving so a shop can be up and running in a week.

The budget chain has continued to sell old Woolworths stock and has been approached by a number of its former suppliers. "We have the best reputation in the industry for buying clearance product," Lalani says. "All our suppliers give us first refusal because we give an immediate decision on any offer." This was especially evident at Easter, when 99p Stores bought 400,000 Easter eggs that were destined for Woolworths, boosting its like-for-like sales of Easter products by 23%.

The retailer's consumer demographic is broadening. Barnes claims the number of professionals visiting its stores has grown from 1% in 2001 to 33% this year. Next year this is forecast to reach 38%.

"When we established our brand, many new shoppers kept quiet about visiting our shops," he says. "Now we're getting Mercedes parked outside. People boast about how they've saved money with us."

If 99p Stores does manage to double its estate by the end of next year, plenty more shoppers will be bragging about their bargains.

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