Sales in former Somerfield stores are continuing to lag behind the rest of The Co-operative Group’s estate, according to press reports.
Like-for-like sales in former Somerfield stores now owned by The Co-op were down 3.38% in the eight weeks to 25 February, The Independent reported. In contrast, like-for-likes in The Co-op’s core estate rose 0.13%.
A spokesperson for The Co-operative Group said: “We don’t comment on leaked information. We will be announcing the group’s annual results at the end of March, which will demonstrate the progress we are making to transform and modernise our food business.”
The figures come just days after the society confirmed redundancies following a review of operations at its food business HQ in Manchester.
Kantar Worldpanel data released last month showed sales slipped 1.1% in The Co-op’s stores in the 12 weeks to 22 January. And the latest Kantar rankings, released today, showed The Co-op’s share of the market for the 12 weeks to 19 February was 6.3%, down from 6.7% for the equivalent period last year.
The Independent also claimed the number of complaints in The Co-op’s food business rose to 447 in the sixth week of its financial year, up from 333 in week three.
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