Sainsbury’s chief executive Justin King said another 50 convenience stores will open in 2009/10 and a further 100 the following year. “Customers are shopping closer to home and buy fresh food locally and we want to make sure we are there for them,” he said.
King also said the grocer’s “universal appeal” has helped drive sales. In its interim results to October 4, the grocer reported underlying pre-tax profit up 13.3 per cent to£272 million. Total sales including VAT were up 7.6 per cent and like-for-like sales growth, excluding fuel, climbed 3.9 per cent.
King said: “The work we’ve done on our Basics range means customers don’t have to compromise on quality and they can mix and match to make sure they are managing the inflation in their own basket. They are finding ways of making money without compromising.”
He said his “good, better, best” range means customers have choice in Sainsbury’s without having to shop elsewhere.
Sainsbury’s has also introduced a series of operational changes to improve cost efficiency, such as night-shift improvements and introducing further shelf-ready packaging. “We will continue to monitor productivity to find further ways of keeping costs tight,” said King.
King said customers will “still want to have the best possible Christmas” and the grocer’s experience with Halloween shows they still relish a “sense of occasion”.
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