Christmas food shop a boon for Booths
INDEPENDENT supermarket chain Booths has reported a year-on-year increase of 3.9% for the 12 trading days of Christmas and New Year.
The Preston-based grocer, which has 26 stores across the north of England, said December 23 was the busiest trading day in its 160-year history.
Chairman Edwin Booth said: “We are pleased with the results. 2009 will be a difficult year for a lot of businesses and we are committed to being competitive on price, whilst maintaining the quality of our offer.”
Last year Preston-based Booths – described by some in the grocer retail sector as “The Waitrose of the north”, had a turnover of £244m from its 26 supermarkets.
The quality of its produce is so high that in 2006 it was named No 2 in The Grocer Magazine’s greatest Food Retailers in the World survey.
Booths, which has won many other awards for its food and wines, also has a reputation for sourcing products from local suppliers.
In September it signed a buying alliance with Waitrose, which will see the two retailers sharing cost prices and deal structures on a range of branded products.
