Store Formats
The supermarket chain operates three main store formats; regular Sainsbury's stores ('Main Mission'), Sainsbury's Local and Sainsbury's Central (convenience stores and smaller supermarkets in urban locations – 'Mixed Mission') and Sainsbury's 'Main Plus' (hypermarket) stores. Unlike Tesco (Tesco Extra) and Asda (Asda Wal-Mart Supercentre), Sainsbury's does not employ a separate brand for its hypermarkets, having phased out the 'Savacentre' fascia several years ago.
At the end of its 2011/12 financial year Sainsbury's store portfolio was as follows.
| Format | Number | Total Space (sq ft) |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 572 | 19,320,000 |
| Convenience stores | 440 | 1,027,000 |
| Total | 1012 | 20,347,000 |
Traditionally, the majority of Sainsbury's stores were located in the areas around London and south-east England. The company acquired the Midlands-based Thoroughgood in the 1930s. Expansion since 1945 has given the company national reach, although the chain is not as represented in Scotland as other chains such as Tesco, and Morrisons (as Safeway dominated Scotland before being taken over by that company). This is partly due to the fact that Sainsbury's lost out to Tesco in the bidding war for William Low in the 1990s.
Since 1999, Sainsbury's stores have received a new look. The old 'J Sainsbury' name, used in various forms since 1869, was scrapped and replaced by 'Sainsbury's'. Most stores were refurbished with dark blue walls, bright orange wall panels and grey shelving, as well as new checkouts. Individual counters also have different brightly coloured panels behind them. The new flagship store in Greenwich, South London, was the first to receive this new look, leading to the term 'Greenwich Blue', which is used to describe the signature colour of a typical store. This format was subsequently rolled out across the entire store estate.
Following the introduction of the 'Try something new today' slogan in 2005, stores were again refurbished with cream walls, and dark red and dark blue signage, along with cream coloured shelving and checkouts. New aubergine-coloured staff uniforms have been introduced to all stores.
Old external signage bearing the 'J Sainsbury' name has still been found in use as recently as summer 2011 in Swindon, Ashbourne in Derbyshire and Blackheath, West Midlands
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Famous quotes containing the word store:
“What harm cause not those huge draughts or pictures which wanton youth with chalk or coals draw in each passage, wall or stairs of our great houses, whence a cruel contempt of our natural store is bred in them?”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)