An idea of what the Asda Express in Sutton Coldfield will look like
(Picture: Asda)Britain’s third largest supermarket Asda is to enter the convenience store space setting a challenge to rivals Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons.
The stores will open under a new ‘Asda Express’ brand in an attempt to reach local communities in Tottenham Hale in the capital and Sutton Coldfield in Birmingham. The Birmingham store will open on November 8 and London on 6 December in the run up to Christmas creating 37 jobs.
The supermarket is currently in the process of acquiring 132 convenience stores from the Co-op Group.
The transaction is expected to complete at the end of this month and will then go through the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) competition review process - adding to Asda’s convenience footprint.
Asda plans to launch a further 30 sites, creating about 500 new roles, next year, as part of a ‘test and learn’ approach to developing its convenience model – a “key element of Asda’s strategic vision to become the UK’s second largest supermarket”.
The supermarket is currently in the process of acquiring 132 convenience stores from the Co-op Group. The transaction is expected to complete at the end of this month and will then go through the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) competition review process.
Mohsin Issa, Asda’s co-owner, said: “The launch of our first two Asda Express convenience stores is a landmark moment for our great business and a key step on our journey to bring Asda to more customers in more communities right across the UK.
“The stores have been designed to cater for a broad range of customer needs – whether that’s popping in for a pint of milk, grabbing a spot of lunch on the go, or buying the fresh ingredients to cook dinner from scratch. We’re confident customers will find everything they need in these stores and enjoy the convenience of having a new type of Asda store on their doorstep.”
Asda said both stores have been purpose built and situated in residential areas giving customers the “opportunity to shop in convenient neighbourhood locations”. Each store will stock around 3,000 products.
They are also separate from the 132 convenience stores that Asda is acquiring from the Co-op Group. This transaction is expected to complete at the end of this month and will then go through the CMA’s competition review process.
