Waitrose on the hunt for Yorkshire sites

UPMARKET supermarket chain Waitrose is on the hunt for sites in Yorkshire with the help of property consultants King Sturge as it looks to roll out out its new convenience stores.

Retail specialists at the Leeds office of King Sturge have been appointed by Waitrose to help find sites ready for the opening of 30 of the new-format stores nationwide in 2011.

Waitrose announced its plans last year to follow other major food retailers such as Tesco and Sainsbury into the convenience store market.
 
Jonathan Newns, head of the King Sturge in-town retail team, said: “Waitrose’s move into smaller stores demonstrates that convenience shopping is a growing market. Today’s busy lifestyles mean that customers want choice and access to food shopping on their doorstep.

“The convenience stores which open in the North will help to create easier access to wider choice of quality products which is good news for shoppers.

“From a property point of view, the smaller format stores should be easier to accommodate as they allow for greater flexibility in the size of retail unit and location, and should encounter fewer potential planning hurdles.” 

Waitrose, which already has three full-size stores in Yorkshire and plans for more, openied its first convenience store in Cambridge earlier this year followed by a further five since.

The Leeds office of King Sturge is one of the region’s largest independent firms of chartered surveyors and property consultants with 70 staff providing property agency and investment services.