// Sainsbury’s opens two new convenience stores in the UK
// The grocer opened the stores in Leeds and Cambridge
Sainsbury Local sales have hit £3 billion for the first time.
Sales in its convenience business, which comprises over 800 stores across the UK, grew 10% year-on-year in the financial year to date, which it said was 6% ahead of the market.
Its convenience store sales are 7% higher than pre-pandemic.
There have been over 45 million more customer visits to Sainsbury’s Local stores in the last year, driven by more people returning to the workplace and wanting the flexibility of being able to shop how and when they want.
Over the past year, Sainsbury’s has opened 12 convenience stores and has plans to open over 20 more in the next 12 months as customer demand continues to grow.
Sainsbury’s retail digital director Clodagh Moriarty said: “We know how much customers value being able to shop when and how they want, particularly in the post-pandemic world.
“Convenience is a growing part of our business and seeing our convenience stores reach today’s £3 billion sales milestone is a huge achievement and testament to how we are delivering what customers want.”
Subscribe to Retail Gazette for free
Sign up here to get the latest news straight into your inbox each morning
The grocer has opened two new Local stores in Leeds and Cambridge.
Both Sainsbury’s stores will offer customers grocery and household essentials from fresh fruit & veg and food-to-go, to sweet, savoury and frozen staples.
They will also sell hot drinks from a self-service Costa coffee machine and have a click-and-collect service where customers can pick up Argos, Habitat and Tu Clothing products.
