Sainsbury’s is in talks to acquire more former Homebase stores, as it “ramps up” its store expansion plan.
The supermarket is currently consulting with local residents and the council to convert a former Homebase store in Bredbury, near Stockport.
It would be the 13th former Homebase site acquired by Sainsbury’s since August 2024, as part of what the supermarket has said is its biggest store investment plan “for a decade”.
The opening at Bredbury, which is still awaiting final planning sign-off, follows the opening of Sainsbury’s first Homebase conversion, in Lowestoft, Suffolk, last month, with more acquisitions being considered.
Sainsbury’s has also extended and opened two former East of England Co-op stores in Felixstowe and Brightlingsea earlier this year.
“We have a beautiful portfolio plan,” Sainsbury’s chief property and procurement director Patrick Dunne told The Grocer. Sainsbury’s still had more than 100 “prime locations” where it was looking to open new stores in the future, he added.
Sainsbury’s had invested £150m into opening new stores this year, with plans to open 15 new supermarkets, as well as 25 c-stores.
“We have an active pipeline for the following year of a similar magnitude,” Dunne said, adding that Sainsbury’s had capacity for more if it desired.
Acquiring and expanding existing sites from East of England Co-op and Homebase meant Sainsbury’s was able to roll out its estate quicker than through organic growth alone. “We’ve got exactly the shops we wanted in exactly the towns we wanted,” Dunne said.
The new 22,000 ft store in Lowestoft, which previously didn’t have a Sainsbury’s store, was now “the most easterly supermarket that will ever exist in the Sainsbury’s estate”, noted Dunne, taking the title from Sainsbury’s store in Great Yarmouth.
Sainsbury’s had also ramped up its pipeline of organic growth and now had the ability to open between five to 10 supermarkets a year if desired, Dunne said.
“From Scotland to Northern Ireland, this isn’t just about the south of England, it’s about going to the locations where Sainsbury’s don’t exist,” he said.
“We do quality openings, not quantity. We are not chasing quantity for the sake of the numbers game. Every store we’ve opened over the past five, eight years – bar a few – has been hugely successful.”
Sainsbury’s had “no real plans” to close any stores bar any major redevelopments, he said.
However, Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts has previously publicly warned Chancellor Rachel Reeves that the reclassification of business rates on larger properties could impact its store investment.
Sainsbury’s wants to bring more stores to more customers
Collectively, the new stores would add 400,000 sq ft to Sainsbury’s estate over the next two years. Openings alone this year would create a combined 2,000 jobs.
Alongside the expansion plan, Sainsbury’s is also midway through a major plan to modernise its existing stores, as part of its “more for more” strategy. It would invest £150m this year into upgrading around 40 of its existing stores.
A significant majority of that would be on new refrigeration, Dunne, who leads Sainsbury’s Scope 1 and 2 emissions strategy, said.
It’s also adding solar panels, installing ‘vortex systems’ to store entrances and more LED lighting.
Sainsbury’s had refurbished around 20 of its existing supermarkets already and rolled its new “mission-based format” into 10 of its convenience stores.
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