UK: Costcutter aims for 6,000 stores
Current total: 2,547
Following the merger with Palmer & Harvey's symbol groups, covering Mace, Your Store and Supershop, Costcutter now has total network of over 2,500 stores. The addition of these P&H stores has boosted Costcutter revenues by £150m in the last year, with Bibby Line Group reporting the performance of its retail division up 20%, to reach £806.7m. Costcutter revenues represent the cost of goods supplied to its stores, rather than retail sales per se, plus the value of services (such as marketing and sales support) provided to its retailers.
Like-for-likes +1%
Amongst Costcutter retailers with the group for over a year, sales increased by 1%. Commenting on the results Sir Michael Bibby said: "We are happy with that. There has been a lot of change ... We have a target for 6,000 stores. In this sector it's not really Spar competing with Costcutter and Londis, but it is independents against the supermarkets. We need to have the same offer and price as the supermarkets."
In a market growing at 5.2% ...
Symbol groups represent a huge part of UK convenience retailing, accounting for 42% of its total £37.4bn value. To see how they are evolving against the backdrop of this dynamic sector, IGD's Convenience Retailing 2014 will offer a panorama of insight from symbols, co-ops and multiples:
Source: igd.com
