You wait years for a new heavyweight player to enter grocery, then two come along at once. It was only in August that EasyJet tycoon Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou announced plans to take on the discounters with EasyFoodstore. Now Sir Philip Green, of Top Shop and Arcadia fame, has announced plans to move into the convenience sector by selling food and drink in 150 of his BhS stores.
Like Stelios, the news hit the headlines as much for the way it came out of left field as for the apparent improbability.
“Every one of the major supermarkets seems to think [convenience food] is the place to go,” said Green last week. “We already have the space. And our customers have said they would like to buy food.”
A spokeswoman for Arcadia adds: “BhS is currently developing this exciting new concept and more information will be released in due course.” So questions about ranging, own label, suppliers, time scales, locations, value proposition, employees, floorspace and how much the whole thing will cost are all to be determined.
The lack of concrete information means it is tricky to gauge how serious Green is, all the more so since takeover rumours are also swirling around the loss-making chain.
Shortly after revealing this previously untapped food goldmine, Green confirmed he was open to offers for the business, so it’s possible he is simply putting a cherry on top for interested parties - IGD says convenience is currently worth £36bn, rising to £46bn by 2018.
However, no-one should doubt Green’s ability to make convenience retail happen. “Unlike Stelios, he is a retail legend, who combines superb instinct with entrepreneurial zeal,” says one FTSE retail CEO.
The only question is how? One option is to team up with an established player via a c-store concession. The major multiples are all famously hungry for c-store space, not least Asda, which has a similar mainstream demographic, as well as a fondness for a smash and grab entrance into a new sector, as when it bought 147 Netto stores in 2010.
Hiring a world champion
There are two reasons why such a partnership looks unlikely. First, Green told the FT he planned an in-house approach, and would hire a “world champion” to run the show.
Second, Green has tried and failed in previous attempts to partner with a food retailer. When he bought BhS for £200m in 2000, Iceland Foods had some in-store concessions, but as hard as Green and Iceland worked to make them succeed, they ultimately failed.
“We were in eight shops when Philip Green bought it,” says Iceland CEO Malcolm Walker, who wanted to create an “affordable M&S” within BhS stores.
“I went to see him, expecting him to be a bastard to deal with, but he was absolutely charming. I met him a few times to talk about the concessions and he was very helpful. Unfortunately it wasn’t performing, so I expected him to chuck us out. But he was happy to help and give us a go.”
The tie-up only ended after Walker left Iceland in 2001. But the failure of the concession may explain why Green appears determined to go it alone. So what are his chances?
“They are restricted to 150 stores so won’t get into the market as a major player,” says Louise Etherden, CACI’s principal consultant in location strategy. “And being located in major centres puts their stores in a very competitive environment.
“But they are starting with a good-sized network of locations with existing footfall (around one million shoppers a week). The key will be creating a convenient offer that suits their existing customer base.”
BhS would be “dependent on the footfall they already get because they don’t have the brand presence that would draw people in in the same way M&S does,” she adds.
After Green’s failed £9bn bid for M&S in 2004 - a fact seized upon to add spice to the headlines following last Thursday’s announcement - Green may have watched the success of M&S Food - the only bit in growth - and decided he can hurt M&S further. But with such embryonic plans M&S CEO Marc Bolland won’t be shifting uncomfortably in his seat just yet. And it’s not just M&S he’s up against.
“BhS customers have a great deal of choice over where to buy groceries, especially now the multiple grocers have moved so strongly into convenience,” says Conlumino analyst Neil Saunders, who also lists more challenges awaiting Green.
“Logistics is one. Marketing is another. The most pressing will be creating a volume business, which is what grocery is. There is a logic that people passing through or buying from BhS will be prepared to pick up food products, but whether this volume is sufficient to create a sustainable operation is debatable.”
Over to you, Sir Philip.
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