Planet Organic to open first store outside London

Planet Organic is opening its first store outside of London as it ploughs ahead with its expansion strategy.

The specialist organic retailer will open a new location in Henley-on-Thames in the autumn, where it is set to sell its full food range as well as beauty and wellbeing products.

The new 2,440 sq ft store, which will open in a former Superdrug, is part of the company’s expansion strategy led by new CEO George Dymond.

He told The Grocer last month that Planet Organic has plans to expand its current 13-store estate into a 50-store chain by 2025, including 22 new openings in London and 15 across the south west of England.

Property director Nick Ridley added: “We’re hugely excited to announce the forthcoming opening of our latest store in Henley. It marks a pivotal moment in our growth plans as we expand outside of London for the first time.

“Henley is a fantastic fit for Planet and we can’t wait to bring our first-class range of products – as well as an enthusiastic, highly-trained team of expert colleagues – to the local community in the coming month and invite them to join our mission to discover better, at Planet Organic.”

This follows the opening of a new distribution centre in nearby Sunbury-on-Thames, which saw the retailer centralise its supply chain operation for the first time.

Prior to that, individual suppliers made daily deliveries to each of the 13 stores across the capital.

Planet Organic said the new distribution centre will “ensure a much greener and more efficient delivery process” for its existing London stores as well as the forthcoming Henley branch.

The organic grocer is also eyeing online growth, with its partnership with Deliveroo “expanding every week”, it said.