Sainsbury’s everywhere you look as ‘micro stores’ challenge cornershops

Company's chief executive suggests number of stores could treble as it strives to win more of the 'food on the go' market

Shoppers who thought Sainsbury’s had already taken over the high street with its 750 convenience stores have seen nothing yet as the chief executive Mike Coupe suggested that number could more than treble.

The prediction came as he unveiled the supermarket’s smallest store to date – in Holborn, central London, measuring just 1,000 sq ft – as is strives to win more of the “food on the go” market.

Inside the store, a slimmed- down range of just 1,000 products is designed to attract time-poor commuters, on their way home from train stations, and the lunchtime trade at busy office locations.

Mr Coupe said: “We can easily get to 1,500 conventional convenience stores, but with the micro stores you could have another 1,000 over time.”

He pointed out that, particularly in London, the sandwich chain Pret A Manger has opened stores just metres from each other and they still do a roaring trade. “They are every 50 metres [but] they’re not cannibalising themselves because people don’t want to walk further than they have to.”

A typical Sainsbury’s Local is around 3,000 sq ft – any bigger and the stores would not be able to open for longer than six hours on a Sunday due to trading laws – and can be found on most high streets.

However, the new micro stores mean Sainsbury’s bosses can now look to open even more sites. Currently the company launches between one and two convenience stores every week, while it has drastically scaled back larger shop openings to just a handful each year.

The new micro stores are a condensed version of Sainsbury’s Locals, although some traditional items like baking ingredients and store-cupboard goods have been replaced with fresh food options.

Bosses pointed out that workers also like to buy boxes of cereal to eat at their desk as well as build their own sandwiches, meaning fresh rolls and cooked meats are also in abundance.

Sainsbury’s is also trialling a new format at its traditional supermarkets, including the introduction of more non-food items such as its Tu clothing range. Other subtle changes include bringing food-on-the-go to the centre of the store and moving non-food to either ends.

Frozen and fresh food are now side by side and alcohol is in the centre of the store – to appeal to the so-called “X Factor” shopper who goes in for a Saturday night meal of pizza, wine and ice cream.

A new smartphone service is the subject of another trial at the supermarket. This will allow shoppers to key in their shopping list on their phone before arriving.

Once they enter the store, the site’s wi-fi will locate the shopper and show them on a map exactly where each product is – along with the ability to self-scan and pay on their phone to avoid queues.

Sainsbury’s and Tesco have been dominant in the convenience store sector, which is one of the fastest growing, and most profitable, areas for supermarkets.

That dominance in smaller stores looks set to continue, after Morrisons sold off its entire convenience store estate earlier this year and Asda revealed earlier this week that it would no longer look to build a convenience store portfolio, preferring to focus on its large stores instead.