Asda is set to open five more ‘Express’ shops in London this month, as it continues its rollout of convenience stores after a very late entry into the market.
The supermarket had long stayed out of the convenience market dominated by Tesco and Sainsbury’s, but began to change that with the opening of the first Asda Express stores in late 2022. Convenience stores often have higher margins than large supermarkets.
The firm says: “Addressing Asda’s gap in the growing convenience market has been a key pillar of the retailer’s strategy since its acquisition by the Issa brothers and TDR Capital Ltd completed in 2021.”
The takeover of Asda by TDR and the Issa brothers has been controversial at times, with questions raised over the debt-heavy nature of the deal, as well as the confusing network of holding companies within Asda’s corporate structure. The Issa brothers have taken many steps to reduce or refinance their debt levels in the past year as interest rates have risen.
Today, it says it will open 21 more across the UK before the end of January, taking the total opened this month to 38 The supermarket says it plans to open 470 by the end of March, having bought that many shops from the Co-Op and the EG Group, the petrol forecourts business owned by the Issa brothers.
The London stores are in Hornchurch, Crouch End, Dagenham, Horsham and Denham. Some of the other new openings are within the London commuter belt, in towns like Denham and Crawley.
Asda says the shops will sell stock up to 3,000 branded and own-label products.
“After pausing our convenience rollout during the festive period, the programme is now in full swing once more.
“We have exciting plans to accelerate the programme over the next couple of months with the aim of converting all 470 stores acquired from the Co-op and EG Group to Asda Express before the end of Q1.
“We are looking forward to opening our doors and welcoming customers in new locations right across the UK.”
