EasyFoodstore, where food costs 25p, reopens with bouncers to maintain order

The store in Park Royal, London, had to close two days after opening because customers had cleared the shelves of 25p stock

By the time the store reopened at 9am Friday, around 50 people were queuing to get through the doors ( LEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images)

EasyFoodstore, the supermarket venture by EasyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, has been forced to hire bouncers to maintain order after reopening its doors.

The store in Park Royal, London, had to close two days after opening because customers had cleared the shelves of 25p stock.

By the time it reopened at 9am Friday, around 50 people were queuing to get through the doors.

Security staff at the entrance allowed 15-20 people through at a time, according to reports.

The store closed for the weekend, but the company said it would consider putting limits on the amount of food each customer could buy, because it had already run out of pasta by lunchtime on Friday.

All 76 items in the EasyFoodstore cost 25p for the month of February, when prices will rise to "around 50p" per item, the company has said.

The food is so cheap that local grocers and businesspeople are said to be stocking up on goods at prices that undercut wholesalers.

Sir Stelios is aiming to attract people with lower prices than discount supermarkets Lidl and Aldi. The two German outlets have caused a supermarket price war in the UK as bigger, more established grocers fight for customers by slashing prices.

EasyFoodstore aims to be cheaper than them all with its “limited and basic range of items at rock-bottom prices”. Its slogan is: “No expensive brands. Just food honestly priced.”

The food on offer ranges from chicken curry to Jaffa cakes. The store has the same "no frills" approach as EasyJet, with industrial shelving in trademark orange and Best-in basic products from Euro Shopper stacked in bulk.