Exclusive Julian Hunt An own label range is under development at Kwik Save as part of Somerfield's attempts to revitalise the struggling discount chain. Research is under way to see whether the range should have a No Frills' badging or carry Kwik Save branding. Somerfield chief executive Alan Smith said: "There will not be more than 250 own label products and there could be considerably less. We have not finally decided." Products will start appearing before the end of the year. The development marks another significant break with the strategy implemented by former chief executive David Simons, who put Somerfield own label products into the Kwik Save stores. Smith said: "That confused customers and made them think prices had gone up." The Somerfield products will now be removed. And ­ in another major U-turn ­ secondary and tertiary brands are to be reintroduced to Kwik Save stores as part of a review that will see its range fall from 6,000 to around 3,500 lines. The focus will be on branded goods, said Smith, and prices will be sharpened to encourage customers back into Kwik Save. "There's no doubt that much of what happened was self inflicted. Customers walked to Asda. They will return if they have confidence they can get what they want ­ and quickly." Although Smith believes Kwik Save will benefit most from "word of mouth" he hinted that new marketing activity could follow ­ when he is happy with store standards. Even though Smith believes Kwik Save does have a future within Somerfield, he accepts it will take a lot of work to overcome the neglect of the past two years. In the year to April 29, like for like sales at Kwik Save slumped by 14.7%. In the past nine weeks, like for likes were 14.2% down on the previous 12 months. During the same year, the average basket size at Kwik Save dropped by 60p to £7.70, largely because of lack of availability. Smith insisted these problems were being tackled. {{NEWS }}

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