Sainsbury’s continues to open more Neighbourhood Hub stores
Sainsbury’s has now launched its new Neighbourhood Hub offering in a total of seven stores.
Developed as a food-led extension of the supermarket’s convenience format, the hub stores have been set up to serve customers on longer shopping missions.
The shops offer a wider product selection than convenience stores and include more meat, fish, vegetarian and vegan options and new meal kit ranges. Flowers and cosmetics are also sold.
In addition, most feature an Argos Click & Collect facility where customers can collect their Argos shopping whilst picking up their groceries. Customers can enter their Argos collection number on the in-store to table to request their Argos purchase and a Sainsbury’s staff member will collect it for them.
The new hubs have been added as upgrades to the retailer’s existing Melbourne, Billingshurst, Whitstable High Street and Penwortham stores while new hub stores have opened in Woodhall Spa, Midhurst and Bishop’s Waltham.
Sainsbury’s property director Patrick Dunne said: “Our newest hub stores look great and I’m sure our customers will enjoy doing more of their shopping closer to home. We’re continually investing in our store network and adapting our estate to ensure it best reflects our customers’ changing shopping habits and local demand. Our Neighbourhood Hubs have proved extremely popular and that has really motivated the team to open more for our customers through a combination of acquiring new sites and upgrading current stores.”
Sainsbury’s is working to open around 18 more Neighbourhood Hub stores over the next few years and will also invest in upgrading some of its current convenience stores into the format.
Woodhall Spa was the pilot for the new format and went live in 2019. Sainsbury’s then opened both Bishop’s Waltham and Midhurst in November 2020 and refurbished Melbourne Derby Road and Billingshurst in March 2021. Whitstable High Street and Penwortham were upgraded in May 2021.
