Waitrose to wow foodies with new store design

Come dine with us: the fresh look will give more details of where food comes from

• Increase image
• View all images

Waitrose is investing £6 million in a fresh design for its stores in an effort to strengthen its foodie credentials.

The seven-week project starts next week and the grocer will roll out the look to its 190-store portfolio. The roll-out follows a trial late last year at its London Finchley Road and Marylebone stores and echoes the Foodhall format at the John Lewis department store on Oxford Street.

The design will be applied to the entire interior, including food counter imagery, seasonal images and welcoming displays. Photography will offer serving suggestions and explain the varieties and uses of specific foods.

The strategy follows customer research, which revealed that shoppers are doing more cooking at home and want inspiration, as well as more product information. Windows will change on a seasonal basis, focusing on seasonal products and displays will highlight the origins of the food.

"We want to make our branches fresh and enticing, as well as giving them a real sense of the communities in which they trade," said Waitrose managing director Mark Price. "This new look will have a strong focus on telling customers about which products are in season, as well as giving more information about the provenance of their food and the farmers and suppliers responsible for producing it."

Waitrose will also launch a Waitrose Community Matters Initiative in each of its stores, allowing customers to have a say in how £1,000 a month is spent on community projects.

If you have any comment to make on this story, click here.