The Food Warehouse has launched its first online delivery service from eight of its 100 stores, in a move rapidly rolling out to more.
The eight stores are spread across the UK, including Hyde in Manchester, Street in Somerset, Wrexham in north Wales and Perth in Scotland. A ninth, in Wolverhampton, is to be added tomorrow (13 July).
Plans for ‘rolling out online picking across The Food Warehouse stores’ were revealed in Iceland’s results in June, in the outlook for the year ahead. However, no other marketing or announcement has accompanied the rollout itself.
Owner Iceland has added the stores to those providing delivery on its website, but customers will only know when they enter an eligible postcode and are shown the branch from which they are ordering.
The Food Warehouse was launched in 2014, with a range including exclusive products and bigger pack sizes.
Currently the online range consists of products also available at Iceland, but the retailer is said to be looking at the viability of adding Food Warehouse exclusives soon.
Specialist and affordable - inside Iceland’s Wine Warehouse
The Food Warehouse store estate itself is also rapidly expanding, from 86 branches in November last year to 100 by 9 July. The stores are usually between 10,000 sq ft and 15,000 sq ft, much larger than a typical 5,000 sq ft Iceland, and located in out-of-town retail parks with free parking.
Exclusive offerings include The Wine Warehouse, a store-within-a-store concept introduced with the opening of the Cheltenham Food Warehouse, the biggest yet at 27,000 sq ft, in November last year. It aims to fill the gap between supermarkets and Majestic Wine.
Iceland MD Richard Walker said in 2017 that he would be “disappointed” if the estate didn’t reach 400 stores, and described the format as “a cross between an Iceland and a Costco”.
The Food Warehouse also has its own website, featuring promotions, blog posts and a store locator, but not online shopping.
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