Major UK supermarket to open dozens of new types of stores with bigger bakeries as it battles to compete with M&S

A MAJOR UK supermarket is to open dozens of new types of stores as it battles to compete with M&S. Waitrose is rolling out new “neighbourhood” style supermarkets around the UK as part of a £1billion investment blitz, to appeal to a broader range of shoppers. Waitrose is rolling out new types of supermarkets as it tries to appeal to more shoppers Credit: georgeclerk The medium-sized shops will be smaller than its regular supermarkets, but bigger than its Little Waitrose convenience stores. The branches are around 7,000 square feet in size – compared with 10,000-25,000 square feet for a big store and 2,500-3,000 square feet for a Little Waitrose. Sign up for the Money newsletter Thank you! They will each have around 50 parking spaces and stock around 6,500 items, according to The Times. The neighbourhood stores will focus on offering fresh food, and will also have bigger bakeries and more cooking products than its smaller convenience stores. Waitrose has also opened around 20 of these new stores, with its latest branch opening in Chelmer Village Retail Park in Essex last week. Focused on suburbs and commuter towns, other locations include Leatherhead and Oxted in Surrey, Bromsgrove and Knutsford, and Jesmond in Newcastle. Waitrose retail director Tina Mitchell said the retailer was “looking for high-footfall, ‘right size, right location’ sites nationwide”. The supermarket giant is in a battle to compete with M&S, which has over 1,000 stores around the UK and is continuing to open hundreds more. Most read in Money Currently, Waitrose has around 320 stores in Britain. Earlier this month, the supermarket launched a £20million price-cutting campaign, slashing prices of over 160 own-brand products. Comment now