Waitrose to open first station branch
Waitrose is to open its first shop at a railway station this summer as it looks to grow its presence in both the travel and convenience sectors.
The retailer has reached an agreement with Network Rail to open a 2,500 sq ft little Waitrose branch at London’s King’s Cross station which will create up to 60 new jobs.
Waitrose said the store will focus on commuters by selling a range of ready meals, food to go, hot food to go, and key grocery essentials.
The new station shop will complement the new 21,000 sq ft Waitrose supermarket and Waitrose cookery school which is currently being built as part of the redevelopment taking place around Kings Cross station. The scheme received approval last month and is expected to open in spring 2015.
Waitrose director of development Nigel Keen said: “This announcement underlines the flexibility of our formats today and sets out our ambition to take the Waitrose brand to new customers. The convenience sector will be integral to our growth and opening in King’s Cross Station feels like a natural step for our business as we’ve received so many letters asking us to open stores in stations.”
The opening will be followed by the launch of a new little Waitrose shop close to Manchester Piccadilly station in the late summer. This will be the first Waitrose convenience shop to open outside the South East in two years following the retailer’s focus on rolling out the format in central London.
Waitrose has been working to establish itself in the convenience travel market by opening 28 stores at Welcome Break service stations in the last five years and supplying food on the Eurostar since last year.
