Costcutter news

Consolidation and evolving shopper trends are impacting convenience retailers and the channel more widely. In the convenience retailing stream of IGD Live , Costcutter shared the benefits it is realising from ranging for local catchments, while the founder of Thorntons Budgens, Andrew Thornton, discussed his initiatives to remove plastic from its operations. Tailoring range to the needs o...

Major convenience symbol group operator, Costcutter has done a national deal with Uber Eats to enable its 1,500-plus member stores to tap into the delivery service on beneficial terms.  The announcement follows a regional trial across London and the South East in which participating retailers saw sales boosted by £1,500 a-month through the delivery app. Wide range of grocery products to be mad...

This week we visited the latest UK food hall concept to open, the Simply Fresh Foodhall in Manchester’s Stretford Mall. Here we share our thoughts on this latest format and our view on what’s next for foodhall evolution in Europe. A retail / foodhall hybrid The Simply Fresh Foodhall represents an important step forward in foodhall evolution. It’s been developed by Mital Morar, the owner of ...

As reported in Convenience Store magazine, the 2018 accounts (to 31 December) for major symbol group Costcutter show the company's sales fell by 24% to £390m over the twelve months.  This reveals the severe impact caused by the disruption of supply to member stores following the collapse of key supply partner, Palmer & Harvey, in late 2017. Ended year with 1,560 member stores As well as the...

Award winning 'alternative' symbol group, Simply Fresh, part-owned by Costcutter since 2014, has appointed Tim Chalk as its new chief executive.  Kash Khera co-founder of Simply Fresh, who launched the group with his brother in 2009, will remain as chief operating officer.  The group now includes some 90 stores across Great Britain. Chalk brings international experience in convenience Tim C...

Major UK symbol group operator, Costcutter (part Bibby Line Group) has revealed sales down 18.5% to £512m for the year to 31 December 2017.  Store numbers declined to 1,776 at year-end as a result of lost members and exits from unprofitable contracts.  And performance was also impacted by falling service levels from, and the eventual collapse of, its supply partner Palmer & Harvey. Further loss...

Costcutter's new supply deal with Co-op has now been rolled out to all stores in its network, putting an end to over six months of contingency arrangements, in the wake of the collapse of former distribution partner Palmer & Harvey.  The turbulence of the last year saw some 400 stores leave the symbol group, leaving the total number in the network at 1,776 at the end of 2017.  However, it has con...

Costcutter founder Colin Graves has joined the Co-op as an advisor on its wholesale and franchise development plans. Chair of new Wholesale and Franchise Advisory Board Graves will chair Co-op’s new Wholesale and Franchise Advisory Board.  The board was created following the Co-op’s £137.5m takeover of Nisa which completed last month, and the start of its wholesale supply agreement with Gra...

Former Tesco executive, Mike Hollis, has been announced as the new Retail Director at Costcutter Supermarkets; replacing Jenny Wilson, who has left the business after three-and-a-half years with the group. Broad retail experience in UK and abroad Having spent the last four years as Chief Operating Officer at DIY retailer Wickes, Mike Hollis' career has included senior roles at Coles in Aust...

With the last Costcutter deliveries made by collapsed wholesaler, Palmer & Harvey, now at least a week ago, distributor Nisa has announced that it is providing stop-gap supply to some Costcutter stores, covering the interval before the launch of the new wholesale deal with Co-op in the Spring. How many of the 2,200 stores in the Costcutter network are covered is not clear, but presumably they ...