The Co-operative Group buys 10 London Costcutter stores

The Co-operative Group has acquired 10 Costcutter stores in London.

Six of the stores are owned by Sunstar Group, which is 40th on The Grocer’s Top 50 ranking of the UK’s independent grocery retailers. The other four are owned by Tothaal Group.

All of the stores, which are located in Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Brentford, will start trading as Co-ops before Christmas but will receive a full £3m refit in 2013.

“This acquisition marks another important step in our plans to expand and follows our acquisition of the David Sands chain in Scotland earlier this year and the opening of a large number of new stores across the country,” said head of food at The Co-op Group Steve Murrells.

“These stores are in excellent locations across Central and Greater London and they will complement our existing store network in the capital and will be valuable additions to our portfolio.”