Tesco is planning to open 150 new Express stores in the next three years as the battle in the convenience sector continues to heat up.
The UK’s biggest grocer said the plans would see its convenience store estate grow to 2,224, with the expansion plans creating more than 2,000 jobs across the UK.
Tesco is marking 30 years since opening its first c-stores in the UK, in Barnes and Norbury, London, in 1994. It has also just opened a new Express store a matter of feet from the location of its founder Jack Cohen’s first-ever store in the Burnt Oak area of north west London. The first Tesco store opened in 1929.
“I’m delighted that we have come full circle and returned to the street where it all began, with Jack Cohen’s first store in Burnt Oak,” said Tesco UK stores MD Kevin Tindall. “Burnt Oak has a special place in Tesco history, and we’re proud to be serving its local community once again – alongside thousands more across the country.”
The convenience sector appears to have moved up the priority list at the major grocery retailers this year. Last week, Tesco announced a raft of price cuts covering 200 lines in its Express stores. The move appears to have been in response to rival Sainsbury’s extending its Aldi Price Match initiative into its Local convenience stores earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Asda looks set to reach 500 Asda Express convenience stores by the end of this year, growing from just a handful of sites last year. In August, Waitrose announced plans to open 100 new convenience stores over the next five years.
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