Iceland Foods has reached a major expansion milestone by opening its 200th Food Warehouse store yesterday. People camped overnight to enter the Blackpole Retail Park store in Worcester, where the One Show’s Josie Gibson, the face of Iceland adverts, cut the ribbon at 8am.
Iceland launched the bulk-buying concept store in 2014 to provide a wider range of products, including frozen, chilled, and ambient goods. It is now understood to be searching for up to 250 sites on retail parks and out-of-town locations around the UK, as part of huge plans to more than double its estate, according to The Grocer.
The Food Warehouse stores, which are usually around 10,000 sqft and double the size of the regular frozen-food stores, have become Iceland’s main source of growth.
Executive chairman Richard Walker said the supermarket was “opening shops where others are closing them,” during a speech at the FT Live Future of Retail event in London last week, adding that each store creates 30 new jobs.
He said Iceland had opened 25 new stores so far this year, with plans to open another 30 in the next financial year.
As revealed during its annual store manager conference in Salou this month, the supermarket has “ambitious” plans to reach £5 billion in sales over the next three years through new stores and online growth.
Despite huge expansion plans, Iceland’s executive chairman warned that Rachel Reeves’ additional employment costs had been a “bitter pill to swallow” alongside higher packaging costs.
Mr Walker acknowledged the chancellor was in a “tight spot”, but called for “several” ways to ease the pressure on retailers, including a reform to business rates, to create a “level playing field” between online and physical retailers.
He also called for an end to “archaic planning restrictions”, so that planning approvals are quicker for making changes to shops.
At yesterday’s launch, Ms Gibson said she felt like she had been on a night out as she participated in the energetic opening event, which included a trolley dash to raise funds for the local food bank.
Stuart Banks was awarded a £200 voucher for being the first person to enter the store, having camped outside the former CarpetRight store since 10.45pm the previous night.
