Grocery is propping up high streets as supermarkets open convenience stores while other types of chain outlet depart, new data suggests.
The net number of chain outlet closures – meaning total chain outlet closures minus openings – slowed last year to 10 a day, three less than in 2023, according to PwC’s Store Openings & Closures 2024 report.
At the same time, convenience stores were the fastest-growing type of outlet in 2024 based on net openings of 171, fuelled by a “space race by large chains”, according to the report.
It said closures were disproportionately affecting high streets, with almost a third fewer chain outlets than 2014.
But within grocery, openings had shifted in 2024 from larger supermarkets to high street convenience, the report said.
Read more: Big 30 wholesaler report 2025: an inconvenient truth
Major supermarkets have been expanding their footprint in convenience, including Waitrose, which plans to open 100 new c-stores by 2029 and last week confirmed the locations of the next two, in Southwick, West Sussex, and St Andrew’s in Bristol.
Sainsbury’s plans to open or reopen Local stores at a rate of 25 a year, and recently unveiled a new look for the format.
However, PwC’s report also warned the rate of high street store openings was likely to slow in 2025 thanks to “cost headwinds and budget changes”, which include an increase in National Insurance paid by employers’ from April, as well as a rise in the national living wage.
No comments yet