Supermarkets are one of the only businesses in the UK that you struggle to avoid.
Over the last year, many grocers have announced new store openings across the UK with Tesco and Aldi currently leading the way with plans for the next 12 months.
However, some supermarkets have not escaped the wrath of rising costs and have shared the news that some of their branches will close.
The decision to close a specific site can be down to a number of factors, including profitability, operating costs, or wider business plans.
Mirror Money has compiled together a roundup of UK supermarket plans for the next year of new store openings and closures to expect.
Aldi
Aldi store recently announced plans to open 40 new stores by the end of 2023 in a move that would create more than 6,000 new roles in the UK.
Brand new stores will be first open in places such as Norwich and Newcastle over the next few months, as well as in Huddersfield and Shrewsbury over the coming weeks.
Aldi said the reason for the openings comes after the demand for budget groceries has "never been higher".
The supermarket has also pledged to almost double its 60-strong estate within the M25 and create around 2,400 jobs.
Aldi currently has more than 990 stores in the UK and last year Aldi overtook Morrisons to become Britain's fourth-largest UK grocery chain.
As of right now, the German supermarket has no plans to close sites in the foreseeable future.
Asda
Asda, which currently has 632 stores in the UK, has announced plans to open hundreds of smaller stores over the next few years.
Last year, Asda acquired 130 former Co-op sites and these are currently being reviewed by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
The chain has also ventured into the smaller convenience store market with its Asda On the Move, which this morning opened its 100th store.
Asda's ambition is to have 300 of these sites by 2026, which would mean a further 200 would open.
The chain also has plans to open three new Asda Express stores however could not reveal the dates for these right now.
No food store closures in the plan at the moment, although Asda is in consultation to close two of its "Living stores" in Bristol and Wrexham.
M&S
M&S announced in October last year that it was planning to close around 67 of its retail sites as it focuses more of its attention on M&S Simply Food.
The latest plans, which were announced earlier this month include consultations to close or relocate around seven stores over the next few weeks.
Alongside the closures, M&S plan on opening 104 more Simply Food shops - taking the total number of its food-only sites from 316 to 420.
M&S plan for all these changes to be completed in the next five years.
Tesco
The UK's largest supermarket chain currently has 804 larger stores and nearly 2,000 convenience stores in the UK and is planning to open more.
As announced in the group's interim reports last year, in 2023 Tesco plans to open a further two superstores and a further 52 Tesco Express sites and 15 One Stop stores in the second half of the year.
The group have not announced entire store closures but has announced the closure of its meat, fish and deli counters in 279 stores this year.
Iceland
The frozen food retailer announced this week that it planned to close several of its stores in the UK over the next few weeks.
The closures are for five branches in Bristol, Rhyl, Bromsgrove, Basingstoke and the Isle of Wight.
Iceland has around 500 branches nationwide and a further 153 outlets of their Food Warehouse brand.
The frozen food retailer did not confirm why the stores were closing however there is speculation that it could be related to the rising cost of energy.
Last year, Iceland announced plans to open four more convenience stores or "Swift stores" in the UK, however, in September the retailer announced it was to halt the expansion due to its rising energy bills.
Iceland has not given an update on these store openings nor has it confirmed a permanent halt to them either.
Morrisons
Morrisons has been hit very hard by rising costs over the last year due to the fact that it packed and processed many of its own foods.
This supermarket chain has not officially announced store closures although its supermarket site in Mitcham town centre branch will be closing its doors for good in March.
The closure of this site came after a "routine review" of the site and the upcoming renewal of the lease
Morrisons does plan on opening a number of stores in the future with its 499th store opening on Thursday this week in Chelmsford.
In September last year, Morrisons wholesale direct Paul Dobson said that the fifth largest supermarket was going to hit the 500-store milestone in 2023.
He also said Morrisons wanted to have store numbers in the thousands and not the hundreds.
This expansion is to come through Morrisons Daily stores, with the chain explaining to turn over 1,000 former McColls sites into Morrisons Daily stores over the next two to three years.
Lidl
Lidl's managed to open 54 new stores in 2022 and had originally planned to open more stores this year in pursuit to have 1,100, up from the 950 it has now, by the end of 2025.
However, a recent report by The Grocer revealed that the discount supermarket chain was going to scale back its growth efforts by 50%.
Instead, Lidl is to focus on growing its warehouse capacity.
A Lidl GB spokeswoman told the magazine that it now intends to only open 25 stores this year, with the german discount chain recently opening a new store on Norton High Street in Teeside, and another is set to open in Somerset this week.
Lidl has not officially announced any closures to its store this year.
Sainsbury's
Sainsbury's has told Mirror Money that it has plans to open a further 25 stores over the next 12 months with one having opened in Northamptonshire earlier this month and another in Cambridge expected to open at the end of this month.
Sainsbury's currently has around 600 superstores in the UK and over 800 locals. It also has around 250 standalone Argos stores and over 400 Argos stores inside Sainsbury’s stores.
