Iceland has set out ambitions to aggressively expand its Food Warehouse chain by opening 25 new stores a year.
The frozen food specialist said its 12 existing Food Warehouse branches, which were first trialled in 2014 and are double the size of a typical Iceland store, were “performing well”.
Iceland stressed that 25 openings a year was an “aspirational” target and that its basic target remained 50 over the next five years.
In 2015, Iceland reported a 26% drop in annual profits to £150m, which it largely attributed to competition from discount retailers. The retailer announced it would not open any more eponymous stores, but would concentrate on building its Food Warehouse chain.
The warehouses offer a full range of Iceland foods, extended ranges of luxury and speciality frozen food, chilled meat and fresh produce, as well as a “wide selection of value bulk packs”.
Crucially, the retailer said the larger stores operated at a “substantially lower cost to sell” than the traditional Iceland model.
No comments yet