Supermarket giant Asda is planning to open 25 Asda Express stores between June and Christmas in a major drive to boost its offering of smaller convenience stores. Insiders describe this as a “full-blooded assault” on the thriving convenience sector.
Allan Leighton, the supermarket’s new chairman, is said to be the mastermind behind the move, whose ambition is reported to be to return Asda to its former glory. Funding from TDR Capital and the Issa brothers will pay for the expansion of new outlets, price reductions, and refurbishments of existing stores.
Responding to sales falling 5% in the month to Februrary 23, Mr Leighton said: “Our job is to fix it – but not just to fix it. We have to build it, reset it, turn it into what it was.”
Mr Leighton said last month that he would be driving change at the supermarket brand, including a “substantive and well-backed programme of investment”.
Although he did not specify how much money would be being ploughed into the company, he termed it a “war chest”.
Mr Leighton’s comments come with budget supermarket Aldi close behind it in terms of market share. In the 12 weeks to January 2025, Asda’s market share was 12.5%, compared to 14.8% in January 2021.
Aldi, meanwhile, had 8.1% market share in the 12 weeks to January 2021, but that has since grown to 10.7% at the start of this year.
Tesco and Sainsbury’s remain first and second, respectively, in terms of market share. Tesco’s market share is 27.6% as of January 2025, while Sainsbury’s is 15%.
